The Bonds We Make
by XIIIth Hazard
Summary: (Part: 5) - Stranded on another world, Donnie must work with the person who brought him there to get back home. But it looks as if his companion might have another objective in mind. Turtle-Verse/Alternate Dimension. (Sequel: to 'The Paths We Take.')
1. Prologue

This is not a good place to _start_ reading; you'll want to finish the first 4 parts before coming here. Go see "The Walls We Build!" there's a list on my profile page.

As for the rest of you; you know the drill, I don't own ninja turtles; blah, blah, blah and please enjoy … :)

* * *

 _The Bonds We Make_

Prologue:

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

Raph honestly hadn't realized how much he had missed combat but it showed in how he was throwing the Black Gators around the room like toys.

"Hey!" He yelled when one tried to shoot him and he reached out to grip the end of the gun which crumbled in his hand before he lifted both it and the goon attached to the other end into the air and carelessly threw them over his shoulder into the skeleton of some huge-osaurus Rex before continuing with his rampage.

Unfortunately for his time limit however more of the Black-Suits just continued to file into the room. On any other day he would have been happy as all get-out with the never ending line of morons to make unconscious but Donnie was still waiting for him he needed to get _up_ _there_.

"Get out a my WAY!" He bellowed charging the line to bowl over the goons like marble pins before bolting for the rope hanging from the ceiling. However before he could start the climb another one open-fired and as luck would have it _severed_ the cord that would have taken him to his brother.

In a second the angry turtle had turned a white hot glare on the one that preformed the deed, but he didn't get the chance to exact his revenge before a pair of nunchucks flew through the air without an owner to collide with the guy's head taking him straight to the ground.

Looking up Raph found Leo making his way toward him as Mikey held the line with his remaining weapon. "Where's Donnie." Leo demanded quickly and he pointed toward the hole in the ceiling's window. "Go! We got this." He ordered motioning toward a doorway on the other side of the room that displayed an out-of-order _exit_ sign before lifting his sword to parry an attack from behind and turned to continue the fight as Raph bolted for the door.

It took him no more than a minute to make his way out of the museum's main entrance and quickly started climbing his way up to the roof using the windows and corroded bricks. However once he reached his destination he realized his brother wasn't there but it didn't take long for him to spot a few Gators roof-hooping a few building away and started after them.

Though he knew Donnie could handle himself Raph still found himself getting nervous as he realized the people he was chasing weren't sporting the usual small hand-guns that the others had, instead they were totting larger _sniper riffles_.

These guys meant business.

However it was when he noticed that his enemy had _stopped_ that he started to panic and quickly looked around for their target where he managed to spot Donnie just as his brother landed on the ledge of a rooftop a few buildings away. But looking back around at the Gators he realized they had seen him too and were _taking_ _aim_.

Raph had never been a good shot with any kind of small weapon, but at the moment he let those shuriken fly he _knew_ he'd hit his mark and a second later two individual Gators went down as he took out the third and forth.

However his instincts still flared and he looked around for the one he knew he had missed which he spotted on the rooftop below just as the man knelt to lift his gun on his shoulder.

"No!" He yelled throwing himself off a ledge to take the goon down, but his fall was to long – he didn't make it in time.

He saw the laser escape from the barrel of the gun just as he and his enemy hit the ground and not even a second later his shoulder flared with a phantom pain causing him to look up in horror as his brother went down only for both Donnie and the theft he'd been chasing to _disappear_ in a flash of light.

…

( _Thief:_ )

She was able to right herself shortly before hitting the ground which resulted in her legs aching slightly in return but she ignored it for her attention was quickly drawn to another form that had suddenly landed next to her, however this one only managed to stay on its feet long enough to break the fall before promptly collapsing.

"What?" She complained upon getting a good look at the creature to realize it was the _turtle_ from the roof; however that argument was quickly forgotten as she looked around the area and realized that this was _not_ where she was _supposed_ to arrive.

"You gotta be kidding, what the hell is that all about." She grumbled at the transporter on her wrist and proceeded to glare at it sourly for sending her to the wrong place. However her rant was cut short when she heard someone gasping for air and looked down at the turtle again.

He was bleeding profusely from a wound on his shoulder and on top of that he clearly wasn't built to breathe nitrogen and sulfur; as he was not adjusting well to the change in atmosphere.

Curious she knelt to examine his wound only to find that it was made by a _laser_ ; which didn't make sense. From what she had seen of his fighting technique he could have _easily_ dodged a blast like that, however as she tried to figure out why he hadn't she managed to get a closer look at the injury and her eye's widened as she observed that he would have had his arms _spread_ when receiving it, like he was _protecting_ something.

The shock of realizing what had happened dwindled away slowly when he attempted to take another breath of air only to not get any.

"You're having a really bad day." She informed him sympathetically realizing that the poor guy would probably bleed-to-death within the hour if he didn't _suffocate_ first.

But then again maybe that would make it _easier_ on him.

With that cheery thought in mind she stood up to stroll away without a care but didn't get very far before her conscience had her looking back at the poor creature again.

"Ah hell!" She swore before rushing back over to gently turn him around so she could rest him against her shoulder and started searching a particular pocket of her suit until finally finding what she was looking for and quickly used her teeth to open the bottle and forced the top into his mouth.

He instinctively tried to reject it but she quickly got over the shock that he was somehow still _conscious_ and positioned him again so she could make it work.

"Don't fight me!" She ordered when he continued with his weak attempt to force her away but she was eventually able to get the liquid down his throat and watched as it immediately started working and he was finally able to take in a deep breath of air.

An _edible_ atmosphere-converter was always a good thing to have in her line of work as she often ended up on all kinds of strange planets with all kinds of strange combinations of air. He was just lucky she still had one _left_ after visiting his world.

"Damn-it-to-hell." She muttered sourly as she looked at the empty bottle and realized it was her _last_ one. "You know those things are _expensive_? You _owe_ me one." She couldn't help but grumble again before remembering that she really didn't have a case there as they were now officially _even_.

"Whatever." She started sourly before getting to her feet again after coming to the conclusion that he would live – for now. "It's not my problem anymore." She added more to herself and quietly turned to leave again intending to get much farther than just two feet this time.

However it would appear she was _wrong_ as turning around only placed her face to face with the business end of a _blaster_.

"Hello boys." She stated with sass as the two _Triceraton_ guards stared her down over their weapons. But unfortunately for her they didn't give her the chance to say anything more or try to escape before she was suddenly shot in the back by another that had come up from behind and promptly lost consciousness as she fell to the ground.

"An _Algon_ huh?" The commanding officer on scene responded before ordering his men to take her to the ship and the Triceraton next to him quickly crouched to pick up the female alien before making his way toward the waiting transport a little ways away.

"What about the terrapin creature?" The other asked cautiously nudging the turtle's body as he lay on the ground breathing painfully. "He appeared to be _friends_ with the Algon."

"They don't make friends without a _reason_." The captain stated in thought as he studied the creature curiously before finally ordering his men to have the terrapin loaded onto the ship as well.

* * *

Please let me know if you like the Thief, she's going to be my first OC _main character_.

I admit I'm excited.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ ) Earth

"Donnie?" Raph asked the air around him in a whisper as the shock set in and he rushed over to the rooftop where his brother had just been. "Donnie?" He said a little louder as he turned around in circles in an attempt to locate him.

He only panicked that much more when he realized that the pain in his shoulder was _gone_ ; vanishing almost as quickly as it had started, which had _never_ happened before and the only reason he could think that it _would_ was if his brother was –

"Donnie?" He yelled at the top of his lungs franticly looking everywhere he could think for his brother but when he continued to not find anything he was forced to quickly grip his head in both hands trying to calm his nerves as he started to hyperventilate.

He could feel a panic attack setting in and knew he was in danger of another _heart attack_ if he didn't calm down. But he couldn't and all he could do was scream as he fell to his knees which immediately causing the nano-bots in his system to force him into unconsciousness before he could cause any more damage.

…

"Raph!" He jumped internally when a voice suddenly jolted him from his sleep and he tried to open his eyes. "Raphael!" The voice insisted but still he couldn't answer it.

" _8_!" Leo's sudden use of his very first name had him jumping into consciousness as their numbers where _only_ used when it was serious and he had vowed to _never_ ignore that call.

"Easy, easy." Leo added quickly collecting Raph's face in his hands as he bolted into a sitting position. "Calm down!" He ordered as his brother struggled to take in every breath.

"Don – nie?" Raph whispered around the pain in his chest but Leo didn't hear him as he was distracted by Mikey jumping down from somewhere to arrive on the scene.

"I can't find him." He announced in a panic and the oldest turtle had to take that in for a moment before answering.

"I'm sure he's fine." He announced confidently. "Let's fix Raph up and we'll go look again."

"Leo!" Said turtle suddenly demanded and his brother quickly gave him his undivided attention. "He's not here, he – he _disappeared_."

"What do you mean?"

"I – I don' know, one second he was there – one of those damn Gators _shot_ him and then – then he was – _gone_." Raph proclaimed as he started to panic again and Leo quickly laid a hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down.

"Okay." He answered seriously. "We'll find him, everything's gonna be fine."

"It's _not_ fine!" Raph suddenly yelled reaching out to grip the belts across his brother's chest and forced them into a close encounter as he rose to his feet. "He would _be here_ if it were _fine_." He demanded loudly.

"Raph!" Leo ordered. "Calm down!" He added slowly.

" _NO_!" The red-clad ninja bellowed in return. "I'm _NOT_ gonna calm down." He announced, angrily shaking Leo as he yelled. "I need to _be_ there; I'm his _protector_! I'm his _SHIELD_!"

" _Raphael_!" Leo suddenly roared in full-on leader mode _demanding_ his brother's full attention. "That's _enough_ ; we'll _find_ him."

It took Raph a minute to collect himself again but when he did he only got right back into the screaming contest. " _Why_ aren't you more _concerned_ about this?"

"Because Donnie can take care of himself." Leo announced confidently without pause. "Where _you_ on the other hand are going to give yourself a _heart_ _attack_."

"This isn't about –" Raph started again only for his older brother to interrupt him.

"I'm not giving my attention to _anything else_ until you _prove_ to me that you can _calm down_." Leo declared in a scarily serious tone continuing to hold Raphael's eyes as he spoke thus forcing the other turtle to finally relent.

"Leo!" Mikey said in a quite voice as they continued to stare each other down causing both of his brothers to look at him but Raph quickly turned to walk away clearly unable to look at his other little brother at the moment.

"Where _is_ Donnie?"

…

( _Donnie's POV_ )

"Hey!" A voice said as it broke into my thoughts while I struggled to return to consciousness. "Hello?" It added obviously getting a little annoyed. "Honestly; it's no wonder men never accomplish anything."

I finally opened my eyes when I realized I'd just been _insulted_ and turned to look at the owner of the voice, however the retort I had prepared quickly got stuck in my throat when I saw who was speaking.

Of course I recognized the voice as the thief from the roof but now that I could get a good look at her I realized that she wasn't a _mutant_ at all, or at least not any kind that I'd ever seen.

I felt confident using the phrase _raptor_ -in-human-form as the best way to describe her but that only made it more confusing as there was no _living_ dinosaur DNA to create a mutant from. Even the megalodon or any of its nano-buddies wouldn't have the genetic material needed to make that work.

"Enjoying the view Sparky?" She asked after I had continued to stare at her for almost a minute and so I calmly turned to look at the ceiling instead.

"Sorry." I offered as I moved to get up only for a wave of pain to shoot through my right shoulder and I was forced to lie back down before I passed out again.

"Careful!" She ordered sternly. "You know you're pretty lucky, if the Triceratons thought you were going to _live_ you would have been taken to a torture chamber by now."

I decided to ignore that little gem of unhelpful information as I cautiously reached up to touch the injury to my shoulder with my good hand.

I could tell I had lost a lot of blood but it seemed I had been lucky (in a sense) as I discovered that the laser had not only pierced but _burnt_ , thus effectively sealing most of the wound before I could bleed to death which certainly explained why the pain had been so severe.

However while I was somewhat glad for such a turn of events I still had a sizable _hole_ in my shoulder that required attention. So using my training to block out the pain as much as I could, I moved to sit again and cautiously backed up until I was leaning against a wall where I was able to test the wound completely and found myself surprised yet strangely _relieved_ to discover that the beam had gone straight _through_.

As much as I loved my living armor if the laser had ricocheted off the inside of my shell it would have continued to bounce around in my body like a bee-bee in a can leaving unimaginable internal damage in its wake.

So taking a deep breath I closed my eyes and started focusing on the nano-bots in the area, giving them a little more mental incentive to close off the wound and finally allowing me to breathe a little easier as the agony finally dwindle to a manageable amount.

I jumped slightly when I opened my eyes again to find the woman who was quickly becoming my own personal bad-luck charm _three inches_ from my face. "Can I _help_ you?" I asked sourly and she promptly sat back on her haunches to study me curiously.

"That was impressive." She proclaimed indicating my shoulder. "How did you do that?"

"Nano-bots." I answered simply figuring that I really had nothing to loose. She didn't strike me as the type of person to steal similar technology without first knowing what it was capable of. She would no doubt put the pieces together later if I didn't tell her and at least this way it was on _my_ terms.

"Really?" She stated obviously interested. "And they don't _control_ you?"

"No." I announced dryly before using the wall to get to my feet as she hummed in consideration. "Where are we?" I added trying to change the subject as I looked around the room which I now realized was a _cell_.

"Transport ship." She answered and I promptly froze before slowly turning to look at her again.

" _Ship_?" I repeated and she nodded.

"What's the matter, get space sick?" She answered with a smirk but I only heard one word in that sentence.

" _Space_?" I stated in shock before reaching out to steady myself on the wall again before I fell over.

"Worried about your brother's?" She added and I immediately turned to look at her again in horror, though thankfully she seemed to notice that the manner of which she had phrased her words could come off as a bit – _stalkerish_ and quickly explained further."You all looked alike; I just _figured_ you were – _related_."

"Oh." I muttered simply and turned to place my forehead against the wall hoping to calm my nerves a little before I had a panic attack. I could still sense my brothers; which was a good sign as we'd always wondered just how _far_ our connection could reach, however I could still clearly tell that they were _not_ nearby which meant they were likely still on _Earth_.

I was honestly _torn_ between wanting them there with me and happy that they _weren't_ as far as I knew they were still free and safe and that's really all that mattered, however I hadn't exactly left them in a good place. But then again it wasn't like I could do anything to help them _now_ , so I'd just have to have faith that they were strong enough to do it without me.

"Who are they?" I decided to ask hoping to distract myself as I reached up to remove the purple scarf from around my neck. The thing was made of a special marital that bonded to _blood_ making it the perfect quick wrap for an injury so I was thankful that our captors had decided was innocent enough to let me keep.

"Triceratons." She answered sourly as she leaned back against a wall to get more comfortable. "They have a nasty habit of interfering in other people's business."

"You're a theft." I responded simply. "Are you sure they're not just doing their _jobs_?"

"For your information I am a _bounty hunter_." She corrected sternly. "If you're gonna accuse someone get your facts straight Stud Muffin."

"Stud Muffin?" I repeated sourly raising an eye-ridge in her direction.

"What prefer Sparky?"

"Actually I'd prefer you call me by my _real_ name." I stated seriously before introducing myself. "Donatello."

"That's a mouth full." She proclaimed with a smirk.

"I didn't get _your_ s." I added trying to ignore her.

"I didn't _give_ it." She announced while calmly going about examining her claws and I took a deep breath trying to keep myself calm. I wasn't usually so easily annoyed but something about her just got under my skin.

"Fine." I answered and carefully started to tie the scarf around my injured arm in an attempt to secure it to my body so I could avoid further pain.

"Alright I'll tell you." She declared smartly as she stood up to stroll over to me. "But only because you're so cute." I couldn't help but pause in my motion of tying the final knot with my teeth as she said this, for admittedly that was the first time anyone had _ever_ called me that.

"It's _Zira_." She finished using my distracted state to take the scarf from me and unwound it again before looping it back around my body to make it tighter.

"Where are they taking us?" I asked distractedly as I watched to make sure she was doing it right before winching when she finally tied the last knot again and moved away to let me check the circulation in my shoulder.

"Either a prison or The Games." She explained sourly while moving over to examine the door obviously looking for anyway to open it from the inside. "Both of which are virtually _inescapable_." She added distractedly.

"What are The Games?" I asked before gently checking my injury to insure the healing had held. I'd been in a lot of pain when doing it and pain had a way of impairing one's concentration leaving a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong.

"A place I'd really rather not see from the _inside_." She answered before expertly removing a panel from the wall and started twisting wires in an attempt to activate something.

I had to admit I was impressed, she tried not to show it but she was actually very intelligent perhaps even on _my_ level.

"Than maybe we should look into escaping from _here_." I muttered as she remained focused on the door which suddenly decided to reward her escape attempt by _shocking_ her.

"That's a bold statement." She professed giving the panel a death-glare before letting the cover spring back into place as she folded her arms in a huff. "What did you have in mind?"

"What can we do with _this_?" I asked casually pulling a little triangle-shaped remote from my pocket which caused her to look at me in shock. To be honest I really didn't have a lot of experience with _alien_ technology but I was willing to bet that the thing was important.

"Where did you get that?" She demanded.

"I swiped it off the guard that carried me here." I proclaimed as if talking of the weather.

"Whoa! Wait a minute!" She announced holding up her hands in a classic 'hold the phone' motion. "You mean to tell me that you were _shot_ in the shoulder, _suffocating_ , not to mention in the middle of being _captured_ and you _still_ managed to steal a key card?"

"Ah so _that's_ what it is." I quailed in interest as I looked down to study the thing again. "He really should learn to put it somewhere _safer_." I added instructively causing her to laugh.

"And I thought _I_ was a dedicated thief." She stated as she snatched the card from my hand before walking back over to the door where she pressed a button causing the offending piece of metal to slide away.

"I thought you were a _bounty hunter_?" I added smartly.

"I like to keep my options open." She prattled off before turning back to me as I slowly pushed away from the wall in an attempt to check my balance while still being careful to watch how I held my arm.

"Hey no dying, you're my _ticket_ out of this hellhole!" She suddenly ordered tactlessly causing me to raise an eye-ridge in her direction.

"I'm _touched_ by your concern." I quailed with fake cheer. "And since you asked so nicely yes I _did_ loose a lot of blood and to be honest I'm not all that sure I can _fight_ right now either."

"Oh don't worry I'll protect you." She announced innocently as she walked out into the hall to have a look around.

"I feel safer already." I proclaimed sarcastically before joining her.

* * *

There's a new picture on my Deviantart for those who want to know what Zira looks like. I've also posted the title pics and their meanings.

There's a link on my profile page.

Please enjoy

R&R


	3. Chapter 2

Well I thought I would prepare this chapter for tomorrow but ended up accidentally posting it.

So I guess I'll put it up early... Enjoy

;)

* * *

Chapter 2:

( _Donnie's POV_ )

As Zira and I quietly made our way down a hall I managed to spot a couple gadgets hanging from the walls that had the pretty obvious purpose of converting their air into a breathable form for off-worlders, which got me thinking about that _liquid_ she had forced me to swallow before.

"I'm gonna be able to breathe _oxygen_ again – right?" I suddenly had to ask.

"Of course!" She answered distractedly looking around a corner before seeming to consider it a little more. "Well – I guess there's always a chance that you could have a bad reaction to it." She corrected and I slowly turned to watch her trying to figure out if she was just jerking my chain. "But don't worry it's nothing serious, just a minor case of permanent death." She dismissed simply.

"Oh is that _all_?" I asked sourly causing her to smile before rounding the corner and I quietly followed though it was only long enough to walk up to a _locked_ door where Zira immediately attempted to active its control panel with the key card she had but it didn't work this time so she tried a different approach and started rewiring the thing like she had done before, only for this one to shock her as well.

"You stupid – son-of-a –" She complained rubbing her hand sourly. "Since _when_ are Triceratons smart enough to put security procedures on their locks?" She grumbled to no one particular as I walked up to gently take her hand and checked to make sure the burn was nothing serious.

"Allow me." I offered before turning to check out the control myself and carefully followed the diagram in my mind that allowed me to rewire the lock into the open position.

"Ladies first." I stated motioning toward the room beyond after the door had slid away leaving her to glare at me as if trying to read my mind.

"Okay I'll bite." She finally proclaimed in interest. "How did you do that?" She finished as she lead the way through the door where I discovered it was just some kind of supply closet. However when I noticed my _staff_ lying on a shelf nearby I decided it was a _good_ kind of supply closet.

"That's a – _long_ story." I announced pulling my bag over my shoulder while making sure not to rile my injury in the process before walking back out into the hall. "Let's just say that technology and I get along very well and leave it at that." I added sternly however Zira apparently continued to think over my words anyway as I suddenly heard her gasp and so I turned to find her again only to find her looking at me in amazement.

"I _knew_ there was something special about you." She proclaimed demandingly walking into my space bubble with excitement and forcing me to back up a step. "You're a _Q.A_."

"A what?" I asked in more shock than confusion. It wasn't very often that I didn't _understand_ a word or phase.

" _Quantitative Aptitudinal_ , a _super_ mind." She explained further. "You can _see_ technology in its purest form."

I couldn't help but take another step back as she said this. "How do you know that?" I asked seriously but she didn't seem to understand that she had touched a nerve and just continued to smile and find enjoyment in the situation.

"And here I thought I was having a bad day." She stated with a shake of her head before looking back at me questionably. "What in the _hell_ were you doing on _Earth_?"

"I was _born_ there thank you very much." I answered sourly. "Now _what_ are you talking about?"

"No!" She proclaimed in denial instead of answering my question. "That can't be right, you –" She started to say before suddenly seeming to see something in my expression and changed her statement. "You have _no idea_ what you _are_ – do you?"

"I would very much appreciate an _explanation_." I announced seriously but she just stood up a little straighter as she took that in.

"Do your _brothers_ have special abilities too?" She asked off topic which immediately caused me to close off.

"I don't think I'm comfortable answering that." I admitted sternly which seemed to break her out of her little trance.

"Right." She stated suddenly as she looked around again. "This probably isn't the best place to talk about it anyway – now – where were we?" She asked absentmindedly and I was about to complain and try to get her back on the subject when she answered her own question.

"Oh that's right," She announced before scooting past me as she started down the hall again. "We were _escaping_."

…

I thought about Zira's words as we carefully made our way through the _ridiculously_ large transport ship trying to find the bridge. Clearly she knew something about what was done to us as kids but was probably prepared to keep it to herself now that she knew she had something she could hold over my head and although she was being rather vague about it that was _exactly_ what she was doing.

" _Aiya_!" I declared under my breath. 'I hate being _blackmailed_.' I thought inwardly as I checked the hallway behind us to make sure we weren't being followed, but my inner grumblings were promptly interrupted as Zira spoke up again.

"Well this looks important." She suddenly proclaimed and I looked around to find her strolling up to another door that indeed looked significant. "Ladies first." She joked with a grin in my direction as she motioned toward the control panel and I scoffed before walking over to unlock the thing as well.

However this time I quickly regretted it as it promptly opened to reveal a whole group of Triceratons all turning to see who was at their door.

"Ah _there_ you are." Zira stated immediately as she sashayed into the room like she owned the place. "I ordered room service _three hours ago_ , where's my damn _steak_?"

I found myself _really_ hoping that she had the moves to _back up_ her attitude as the dinosaur aliens promptly charged us, clearly not amused with her words and I quickly discovered that what these guys lacked in speed they obviously made up for in strength.

However even with one hand I was able to quickly jump onto the shoulders of the one attempting to barrel into my face where I threaded my staff through the horns on his head which I guessed were actually responsible for their _trajectory_ as their fighting style seemed to revolve around a _head_ - _first_ _charge_.

This allowed me to drag his head down with me as I jumped back to the floor and he hit the ground with a thud as he lost balance. However I couldn't celebrate just yet as another was right behind the first and I quickly adjusted my hold toward the middle of my weapon and held it up in a guard as he bored down on me with his fists.

My right shoulder ached with the attack but I quickly fell backwards taking the weight off and slid between the guard's legs leaving him to fall victim to his forward momentum and face-plant into the floor as I jumped back to my feet while simultaneously tripped up another horn-head in one fluid motion.

I managed to avoid attacking Zira as she suddenly appeared in my line of sight a second later where she quickly threw a little ball at the pile of Triceratons I had left in my wake which quickly released a spray of white mist and they all collapsed to the ground again as they lost consciousness.

"You're pretty good with that thing." She told me with a smile motioning toward my staff. "Considering it's a _two-handed_ weapon." She added snootily.

"You have an _uncanny_ ability to make a compliment sound like an insult." I told her sourly while laying my weapon against my shoulder as I tired to fight through the pain in my arm.

"It's a gift." She declared smartly before adding a question which was accompanied by something that sounded suspiciously like _concern._ "You gonna live?"

"For now, but I think the nano-bots in my shoulder were _damaged_." I reported as I gritted my teeth painfully, however before she could respond the ship gave a sudden jolt and she quickly rushed over to the control board where she made a disapproving noise. "What?" I asked trying to see what was wrong.

"We're _here_." She announced sourly pressing a few buttons in an attempt to get the thing back in the air but it appeared to be operated via auto-pilot and wouldn't respond to her. "Wonderful!" She growled before quickly heading back for the hallway again and I followed.

However as we made our way through the ship again we became aware of the stomping of feet on all levels and knew we had one hell of a fight ahead of us if we wanted to get off this thing.

"I'm open to suggestions." Zira stated quietly once we had made it to the cargo bay where we discovered a small heard of 50 or more Triceratons escorting other prisoners out of their cells. However I didn't get the chance to voice my opinions before an alarm suddenly declared throughout the ship that someone had found their brethren on the bridge.

" _Leaving_ might be nice." I answered sarcastically before taking notice of the fact that there were several humanoid dinosaurs headed in our direction and quickly backed up a step to jump into the rafters of the hall. I second later Zira noticed I was missing but promptly located me again and joined in the hide 'n seek as we watched the alien mountains rumbled down the hallway without even noticing us.

A second later I landed back on the floor in a crouch causing my injury to protest against the motion, but I ignored it and darted around the corner to hide again and though she was no ninja; Zira was still skilled enough to keep up with me as she appeared at my side a second later with the slight click of her claws being the only noise admitted from the action.

"Any idea what's waiting for us out there?" I whispered as we neared the hanger door where I could see light.

"Nothing pleasant." She announced quietly and I sighed before leading the way over to the doorway and peeked around to get a look for myself. Though I knew to expect a completely different planet than the one I was use to I still didn't expect _this_.

"This isn't _planet_ at all." I stated truthfully as Zira arrived at my side again and we looked out at the large _domed_ area.

"It _use_ to be." She explained simply. "But they blew it up in their war against the Federation."

"That might just be the _best_ excuse I've ever heard for being against _war_." I added seriously causing her to laugh dryly under her breath.

"Well as least we agree on _that_." She stated before following me as I jumped out of the door to land in the shadow of the ramp.

"Okay." I started again as I looked around for my next move. "We should try –"

"NO, not The Games! Anything but The Games!" A voice suddenly declared and we quietly peeked around again to see several Triceraton guards dragging an alien that looked like he could bench-press a freaking _bus_ into a waiting transport ship down the line.

"Like I said." Zira started when the group was out of sight. " _Not_ a place we want to see."

"Check!" I answered simply before ducking into the shadows again as more Triceratons rushed out of the ship above us likely in the process of informing someone that we had escaped.

However looking around a bit more I noticed some kind of _energy_ _field_ covering the entire parking zone and only the ships themselves could get through it to the other side. Unfortunately we'd already discovered that trying to hijack one of them was pointless so the only way we had left to go was _into_ the prison, which didn't sound pleasant at all.

"I've got nothing." Zira announced as if she read my mind and I deflated as she looked to me for a suggestion, however before I could tell her the same the shadow we were hiding in suddenly lit up as we were discovered by several spot-lights.

"Maybe I should have mentioned that they can _track_ anyone that's not a guard or registered prisoner." She quickly added with a sheepish little smile and I glared at her.

" _Yes_ that would have been _helpful_." I growled before taking a stance and prepared for another fight. However as the Triceratons continued to file in it quickly became apparent that we were outnumbered and outmatched.

* * *

Sorry if Zira makes this part feel a little off topic, but believe it or not I actually have _no_ intention of turning this into a romance, she simply has an important role to play in the story.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

( _Donnie's POV_ )

I swallowed a cry of pain as the Triceraton behind me roughly pushed against my injured shoulder in an attempt to make me walk faster and I had just about replied in-kind by kicking the douche-bag where the sun don't shine when Zira reached over to put her arm around my shoulders to interrupt the honorable act.

"Don't try to provoke them." She whispered in my ear as we arrived at some kind of moving sidewalk and quickly started to zip along toward the prison. "Triceratons aren't the most _pleasant_ of company to begin with and their prison guards are even _worse_."

"I'll remember that." I whispered back as we arrived at some kind of station that I could only imagine was their front desk where the sidewalk stopped thus causing the guards around us to point their guns in our direction.

"Lift your hands!" One of them ordered with a growl and Zira and I reluctantly did as he said leaving me to look up as some strange glowing blue _cuffs_ materialize around my wrists only for them to clank together a second later as the things were activated.

' _Aiya_!' I thought sourly as I glared at the things which seemed to cause some old scars on my wrists to flare up again after all these years.

This was _really_ not my day.

I was interrupted in my reminiscence of childhood when Zira suddenly cried out in pain and I looked up just in time discover a new glowing _tattoo_ on her shoulder. I managed to quickly dodge the machine as it tried to give me one as well but another arm just caught me from the other side a second later.

Well at least I had avoided getting it on my _injured_ shoulder.

I minute later the ground was moving again and soon we were being shoved down a hallway of cell blocks where one opened of its own accord and we were forced to enter leaving the guard to growl at us in annoyance before the door closed again and we were left alone as our cuffs disengaged and I was allowed to rub my shoulder which was screaming at me for the harsh treatment.

"Well this is getting old." Zira stated glaring at the door momentarily before going to sit in one of the corners.

"At least we're still alive." I added though I already missed the weight of my staff on my back after just having it returned.

"You didn't happen to swipe another key card did ya?" She asked in response as I sat down across from her.

"They didn't give me a chance, guess they learned their lesson." I answered before looking down at my arm which caused her to notice my _smile._

"You look distracted, and not in a good way." She proclaimed with a curious tilt of her head as I looked up at her again.

"I wasn't aware that there _was_ a good way to be distracted." I answered honestly.

"There _is_ , but unfortunately for you all of them require a bed, a drink or a lot of money." She muttered sourly which had me smiling a little more. It wasn't the best source of humor but it was enough to help me forget a few things.

"And if I told you that I had an idea involving an _escape_?" I asked simply causing her to raise an eyebrow at me curiously.

"– That depends on the idea." She proclaimed smugly and so I quietly lifted my left arm to show her my _gantlet_ which our captors had been stupid enough to let me keep.

"So?" She muttered dryly but I wasn't all that shocked by her response. I had gone through a great deal of trouble during the creation of my gantlet to make it look as _harmless_ as possible in the hopes that my enemy would think nothing of it until it was activated.

"You'll see." I told her as I folded my arms again to lean back in an attempt to get a little sleep as I waited for nightfall.

…

"Well isn't that _stealthy_ of you?" Zira commented dryly after curfew had been called and I got up to slowly wave my left hand over the door, allowing the screen on the back of my hand to show me the inner workings of the thing so I could pinpoint the locking mechanism and force the door open.

"That's kind of the _point_." I told her simply.

"Yeah I noticed – how much you want for that thing?" She added suddenly and I laughed a little under my breath before turning back to look at her.

"It's not for sale." I told her seriously before carefully checking the dark hallway to insure no one was there. "Plus I doubt I'll be able to use your kind of money on my planet anyway."

"True." She agreed before looking back at me as she seemed to contemplate something, a look I realized I'd _seen_ her use a lot but had yet to find out what it meant. "But _why_ would you want to go back to that _dump_ anyway?" She added seriously and I couldn't help but blink at her in disbelief.

"Because it's my _home_ ," I answered sternly. "And that's where my _family_ is." I added purposely as she continued to study my eyes for something and I backed up a step to enlarge my personal space again. "What?" I finally had to ask but she just waved away the comment like a bug before walking down the hall in the _opposite_ direction that I knew the exit was. "Where are _you_ going?"

"I need that nano-brain." She said without looking back and I raised a skeptical eye-ridge as I remembered that particular little detail myself.

"Why?" I asked simply choosing not to follow her just yet.

"For the same reason _you_ need it _._ " She answered seriously before finally turning around to look at me as she reached the corner. "I need it to save my people."

"Your people?" I repeated slightly shocked by that but I didn't show it.

"You think your planet is the _only_ one The Barron has tried to _rule_?" She stated angrily. "He got a hold of _mine_ too; now I'm the _last one left_ and if _I_ don't save them no one else will." With that said she promptly rounded the corner and out of my sight leaving me to realize just how much of a jerk I had been.

" _Aiya!_ " I swore again sourly as my conscience informed me that there was no way that I would be leaving her behind _now_.

…

"You have any idea where you're going?" I asked as I walked up behind her and she jumped obviously having not heard my approach.

"Yes." She announced sternly as she righted herself again in the act of pretending that nothing had happened. "It's in the general vicinity of the prison." She added before storming away in a huff.

"That narrows it down." I said sarcastically to myself as I lifted my gantlet again to attempt a search for the thing.

"So why are you helping me?" She asked a minute later and I looked up from my screen to find that she had backed up several steps to walk with me again. "You know I'm only in this to save _my_ home, I don't give a shit what happens to _yours_."

"I'm aware." I answered before looking back down at my project and made a left as it zeroed in on the signal. "But I'm a _doctor_ ; I'm not _built_ to abandon people when they're suffering."

"A doctor huh?" She stated as she continued to follow me though the prison. "That explains a lot."

"Glad to be of service." I said sourly before stopping at a fork in the hall and checked to make sure we were going the right way before heading to the right.

"How do you think your _team's_ holding up without you?" She suddenly asked which nearly made me loose my concentration.

"They're fine." I told her confidently trying to make it clear in my voice that she should drop the subject, but she didn't seem to get the memo.

"I only ask because The Barron doesn't take too kindly to _free will_. He'll tear them apart if he finds them and if _you're_ not there to patch them up then they'll –" Her words suddenly fell short as I turned on her so suddenly that she was forced to back up a step.

"I'm _warning_ you Zira." I said in a dangerous tone of voice. " _Drop it!_ " With that I promptly turned back around to start the search again leaving her to follow at her own risk.

"Well at least I know how to get you _angry_." She stated a couple minutes later as she caught up with me again. "Though I guess I shouldn't mention that Q.A.'s usually do better on their _own_." She added.

"No you shouldn't." I agreed sourly.

"It's true." She went on anyway. "They're real loners, spend any free time hauled up in their labs, working on projects, of course that's only if their not on the _run_."

"And why would they be running?" I asked even though I was trying my damndest to ignore her but unfortunately she knew just the right subject to reel in my interest.

"They're actually really _rare_." She answered simply. "Usually their families try to _sell_ them, so you should leave _yours_ while you still have the chance."

"Yeah because you _obviously_ have my _best interests_ at heart." I proclaimed sarcastically as I stopped walking in order to look at her.

"What can I say?" She countered sugarly. "I'm just a big _softy_ inside."

"Look –" I started seriously as I rubbed my face tiredly. "I don't expect you to understand but my brother's are _all_ I have, I would give _anything_ for them – even my _life_."

"They're only holding you back." She countered seriously as she took another step forward so we were face to face. "And you and I both know you're not so _naïve_ that you can't _see_ that."

"They hurt you pretty bad didn't they?" I asked suddenly off topic.

"What are you talking about, your brothers never even –"

"Not _my_ family – _yours_." I interrupted causing her to back-peddle slightly. "I get it now." I added softly. "You never had a real family, so you really _don't know_?"

"Don't know _what_?" She demanded sternly obviously uncomfortable with how the subject had so suddenly flipped.

"How _cruel_ you're really being." I answered causing her to immediately drop her mask of anger and sarcasm for a moment which allowed me to see for the first time just how _scared_ she really was.

However the moment was over quickly and her wall was rebuilt as I turned to walk away again leaving her to think over my words in silence.

…

"One of these days I'm gonna program this thing to _come_ when I call." I stated mostly to myself as we finally located the storage room where our gear was being kept and I walked over to retrieve my staff yet again.

"I'd pay to see that." Zira commented as she collected the little nano-brain and zipped it into her suit for safe keeping.

"Okay." I announced as I made my way back into the hall with a strange feeling of deja vu. "Now let's get outta here." I added sourly.

"Oh what's the matter, don't want more _floor wax_ for breakfast." She joked and I turned to glare at her for the unneeded reminder of that afternoon's mishap.

"Yeah – no!" I proclaimed dryly. " _Two_ escapes in one day is _enough_ for me thanks."

"Can't argue with you there." She stated as we started making our way back through the prison where we compared notes on the location of the drainage system that should take us to the exercise yard and from there all we had to do was climb a wall and we were home free.

…

Unfortunately that plan lost momentum when we got to the yard as the second I reached out to touch the wall the whole place lit up like Lightsville USA.

"Oh wonderful." Zira groaned as we looked around to discover a small army of Triceratons cordoning off every exit there was.

"Guess we'll have to make it _three_ escapes." I stated under my breath before charging into the first guy before he could activate my cuffs or some other unpleasant thing, taking him off guard as I leveled him into the ground with one well placed hit to just the right area of his neck.

This gave me the chance to commandeer his lost shield which I promptly threw like a Frisbee into the next guy's head propelling him into the dirt as the thing bounced back to me like a boomerang so that I could then use it for it's intended purpose and _guard_ against another oncoming attack leaving the poor goon to scream in pain as his fist crumpled against the metal.

In a mater of seconds I'd plowed my new found weapon into his gut which knocked the wind out of him long enough to level the unfortunate dino as well, but I didn't pause to pity him as I promptly threw the shield to the ground behind me for another Triceraton to catch underfoot and flail about like a windmill as he attempted to stop his sudden sliding motion before landing flat on his back.

I didn't have long to celebrate the success however before I was forced back into the fight by another guard who appeared at my side with an attack of his own which I quickly counted by kicking down on the edge of the shield causing it to flip up and nail him right in the jaw.

He continued to stand there for half a second, staring at the little birdies as I snatched my weapon from the air and swung it around to clock him across the head sending the jerk to the ground as well.

However as I continued taking out guard after guard with a creative array of moves it didn't take long for one to finally decided that he'd had enough and _charged_ me instead. But unfortunately for him I was ready for such a move, as I quickly crouched to protect my injured arm as well as put myself at just the right angle to align with the diagram in my mind.

This in turn left the Triceraton to hit my shield like a bug on a window before I lifted at the appropriate moment to take him right off his feet sending him flying over my head to land in a heap on the ground.

Though my body was _built_ to handle such a bold move my injured shoulder clearly took issue with it as I was quickly forced to pause in my assault in order to counter the pain which unfortunately gave one guard the chance to activate the electric charge that erupted through the tattoo on my shoulder forcing my muscles into submission as I collapsed.

"Coward!" I growled at him through my teeth as his goonies exploited their superior advantage to capture us once again leaving the one with the remote to sneer at me in displeasure before activating the thing again just for the hell of it.

"These two have _spunk_." I managed to make out over the ringing in my ears and any hope I had of instigating another escape was soon destroyed as the Triceraton Officer finished his sentence just before I lost consciousness. "They'll make prime candidates for _The Games_."

…

( _Third:_ )

Earth

"Leo!" Mikey said in a quite voice as they continued to stare each other down causing both of his brothers to look at him but Raph quickly turned to walk away clearly unable to look at his other little brother at the moment. "Where _is_ Donnie?"

"We'll find him." Leo announced quickly.

"That didn't really answer my question." Mikey complained and Leo sighed as he deflated slightly.

"Yeah – I know." He admitted as he turned to watch Raph walk to the edge of the roof where he looked out over the city.

"You don't think he's –" Mikey started to ask but Leo promptly interrupted him.

"No!" He said simply. "He's tougher than that." He added confidently.

"But Raph said he was _shot_ – just before he – _disappeared_." Mikey repeated quietly. "What if it was a – a _disintegrator_ or something?" He asked sadly making an effort to look away from the ground as if afraid that his brother's ashes now littered the rooftop.

"It wasn'" Raph announced and they turned to look at him again. "I saw – I saw it go – _straight_ _through_."

Mikey whined slightly as he took that in. "Then he's gonna be _hurt_ – _badly_." He added worriedly and Leo was about to tell him once again that it would be okay, that out of all the turtles Donnie was the _last_ one they needed to worry about, but he was interrupted when Raph suddenly jumped off the roof.

"Raph!" He called and rushed over to find their brother running across the buildings again. "Raph stop!" He ordered following him for a moment which caused the other turtle to quickly turn on him again.

"No!" He growled dangerously. "I'm not gonna _stop_. I'm gonna find my brother with or _without_ your help."

"Raph we're all worried, but we need to –" Leo tried again only to be interrupted.

"Well _you_ gotta funny way a _showin'_ it." He bellowed angrily.

"Guys please don't _fight_." Mikey begged desperately but they wouldn't listen to him and he didn't know what to do in these kinds of situations as this was usually _Donnie's_ area of expertise and from the looks of it that bottle of anger that Donnie always managed to keep _corked_ was about to blow and he wasn't sure if his family would _survive_ the impact.

"We don't even know where he _is_." Leo complained truthfully clearly not hearing his little brother. "And we're not going to do him any good running around aimlessly and _wasting_ our energy." He added taking a few steps closer to his brother. "We need a _plan_ , we can't afford to waste time."

"For once we _agree_." Raph stated with a glare before turning to walk away again.

"Raph!" Leo called after him as he reached out to grab his shoulder but the other turtle suddenly reeled back and hit him across the chest so hard that it sent the older turtle flying straight _through_ a dilapidated wall of bricks.

"Leo!" Mikey declared as he rushed to his brother's aid leaving Raphael to stare at the damage he'd just done in horror.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Leo told the orange-banded ninja as he was helped back to his feet where he quickly looked up to meet Raph's eyes again, trying to show the other turtle that he didn't give a shit about the unwarranted attack. But apparently that wasn't what his brother _saw_ for he quickly bolted in the other direction like a scared rabbit.

"Raph!" Leo begged trying to get up to follow but found himself tripped up by the pile of bricks around his feet and by the time he got himself free again and over to the edge of the roof his brother was gone.

* * *

Just out of curiosity;

I'd like to know what everyone thinks of me adding the word ' _Aiya_ ' to Donnie's vocabulary. I had originally meant for only Olcadan to say it as it's actually _Chinese_ and at one point I was even misspelling it, but now with Zira driving him crazy I feel the poor guy could use a personalized swear word to take the edge off.

Lol

…

Reviews: they feed me.

XD


	5. Chapter 4

I Don't Own Ninja Turtles

Wish I did

* * *

Chapter 4:

( _Donnie's POV_ )

"I don't know Zira he doesn't _look_ too good." A completely new voice broke into my consciences as I came back into myself, but I waited to open my eyes choosing to gather as much information as I could before reveling that I was awake.

Of course that was when someone decided to pour some kind of liquid onto my injured shoulder and I was _decking_ the unfortunate individual before I'd even looked to see who it was.

"Hey, take it easy Sparky." Zira suddenly ordered reaching out to take my wrists so she could force me into submission again as I looked around to find that the person I had hit was actually another Triceraton. "This is _Traximus_ ," She added seriously. "He's on _our_ side."

I coughed lightly as I moved to sit in a more comfortable position taking in our new _prison_ which reminded my more of a _stable_ than anything before looking at the guy I'd hit as he massaged his jaw. "Sorry!" I offered respectfully.

"No biggy." He stated waving away the apology. "I've been hit a lot harder than that in the past. Though I won't lie, you got one _hell_ of a left hook.

"And _you've_ got one hell of a _jaw_." I added shaking my hand in an attempt to return feeling to my fingers. "I think I heard my _bones_ creak."

Traximus let out a decent bellow of a laugh before turning toward Zira again. "I _like_ him." He added with a smile.

"Yeah he's starting to grow on me." She admitted leaning against a wall as she spoke however this caused her friend to look at her in shock.

"Really?" He asked skeptically. " _You_ , the universal _loner_? Never cares about anyone but herself?"

"What?" I added causing them both to look at me again however I didn't miss the strange expression on Zira's face like she had just been caught in a _lie_. "What about getting the nano-brain to save your people?"

"Her _people_?" Traximus repeated with a scoff before looking back at Zira disapprovingly. "Is _that_ what she told you?" He added then turned back to me again. "Sorry to burst your bubble Sport but she doesn't _have_ people, they were all _destroyed_ years ago. The only reason she survived was because she was off-planet doing her bounty hunter crap. In fact that's probably what she wants this _brain_ _thing_ for."

I promptly closed my eyes as I took that in and hit the back of my head against the wall behind me. "I should have _known_ you weren't that tactful."

"Can you really blame me?" She responded simply and I opened my eyes to look at her again. "If I told you the truth you would have tried to take it again."

"You're _damn right_ I would have." I informed her immediately. "I _need_ that thing to save the people on _my_ planet."

"I can't believe you're still going on about that." She complained sourly as she reached into her suit to remove the little brain that she had somehow managed to keep this time. "You _really_ want to live in a world where _this_ might eventually control the population?"

"No!" I admitted solemnly before adding. "But that's not going to happen."

"Oh come on Sparky, I've said it before I'll say it again, you're _not_ that naïve." She stated seriously as I attempted to get to my feet again with a little help from the wall.

"At least I _have_ a reason." I declared angrily. "What's _yours_?" The only response she gave me was to turn away and regard something else with her attention. "That's what I thought." I added before slowly starting to make my way to the other side of the room but she interrupted me.

"You didn't even _deny_ it." She stated quietly and I turned to look at her again as she studied me thoughtfully. "You try to convince yourself that you _want_ to save them but in reality you're _terrified_ of what those humansmight _do_ if given a second chance."

She gave me a moment to think that over which is when I learned that I really _couldn't_ deny it as that was exactly how I felt.

"I _saw_ your world, what they _did_ to it." She continued seriously. "Your kind outnumbers them hundred too one. If you'd _just_ –"

"What Zira?" I interrupted calmly. "If we _what_? Fought back, went to _war_ , put _ourselves_ in command? We'd be no better than them."

"You _still_ haven't denied it." She pointed out truthfully.

"I _can't_." I admitted quickly taking a few steps closer to her again. "Is that what you want to hear Zira? Because you're _right_ , I _can't_ deny it. I've _seen_ the worst that humans are capable of, I _lived_ it. But that doesn't give me the right to abandon the _best_ of them."

She didn't seem able to counter that remark as she just casually looked to the ground in thought until Traximus spoke up again.

"He speaks the truth and we could _all_ learn a lesson from him." The Triceraton stated sternly. "After all it was _peace_ and understanding that the Tangu originally wanted."

" _Tangu_?" I repeated looking at him curiously.

"So you haveheard of them?" He stated with a smile. "I wondered with your planet being so close to the border."

"Well to be honost – I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing." I admitted simply. "In the land that I come from Tangu means _goblin_ and there's a legend that says ninja _descended_ from the goblins."

"That sounds like the Tangu." Traximus responded. "It's not entirely unheard of for them to visit those they see as _worthy_ and teach them their ways – sometimes they'll even give you _powers_." He continued informatively. "It's no wonder she's taken such an interest in you." He added absentmindedly, turning to look at Zira again as she causally examined her claws.

"So _that's_ the reason?" I proclaimed in understanding as I realized he was talking about the Q.A. thing she had been so excited about and I seemed to get nothing but _agreement_ from Zira as she just smiled at me sugarly in response.

"Get over it." She proclaimed tactlessly as she returned to her task of cleaning her nails. "It's not like you _didn't_ know."

" _Aiya_!" I swore under my breath and realized with a great deal of miff that I had been saying that _a lot_ lately. "Is she always this – _subtle_?" I added turning back to Traximus who gave the wall over my shoulder a sour look before answering.

"Trust me kid once you get to _know_ her – she's even _worse_."

…

 _Aiya ~ A_ Chinese word used to express disappointment when something bad or wrong happens

...

I opened my eyes slowly as I came out of my meditation attempt to contact my brother's but even though I could still sense their presence somewhere in the universe I couldn't tell if they were hurt or in trouble only that they were alive. But in truth that was good enough for me.

I proceeded to look around when the sound of hundreds of fans screaming made themselves know yet again as the platform that I had learned took us to the _arena_ above lowered again and a couple aliens disembarked to lick their wounds.

However I didn't fail to notice that only _two_ of the _six_ that had gone up to the arena had returned.

"Prepare yourself turtle." Traximus suddenly told me and I turned to look at him as he sulked in the corner. " _You're_ _next_."

With that I quickly discovered the guards had decided to _collect_ me for the next game and I instinctively tried to defend myself only to receive a violent shock for the trouble which didn't help my headache in the least.

"So this is the Algon?" A squat specimen of a Triceraton declared with a smirk as Zira and I were hauled over and forced to kneel in front of him where he reached out to lift Zira's face slightly which only caused her to glare at him before biting into his hand.

The guard screamed causing the others holding her to quickly disengage her teeth with a sharp strike to the head leaving the short little alien to hop around as he clutched at his hand in pain and I watched as Zira spit out a little blood in his wake before smiling.

"It was worth it." She stated smugly and I couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Why you –" The commanding officer swore as he made to hit her again but stopped as he realized that she hadn't even flinched. "No – I have a _better_ idea." He interrupted himself before lowering his arm. "You Algons are stubborn fighters, _independent_. Let's see how well you adjust when that's _taken_ _away_?"

I tired to look around in an attempt to figure out what he meant by that but the guards holding my arms suddenly pushed me into the ground and I had to swallow a scream of pain as one of them wrenched my right arm around so that my wrist overlaid with Zira's allowing some kind of mechanism to be placed over our hands which was shortly followed by a searing pain as something was nailed straight _through_ our wrists.

I couldn't hold in the scream this time and Zira joined in as well however before we even had a chance to recover we were picked up again and thrown unceremoniously onto the platform just before it started to rise up to the coliseum again.

"Enjoy the view." The arena master proclaimed around a laugh. "It's the _last one_ you'll ever see."

A minute later the platform came to a stop and I got to my hands and knees to look around at all the screaming aliens who awaited their next game. However I didn't get the chance to check out our opponent before Zira suddenly bolted to her feet and my _arm_ went with her.

" _Zira_!" I screamed in pain as my injured shoulder protested the action and she quickly moved closer to me so I could level out again. After a minute our hands were finally allowed to separate but I still felt a strange _weight_ on the end of my arm as I looked down to find a strange glowing tattoo around both of our wrists.

But this one wasn't like the others; it was _black_ instead of blue and seemed to become _darker_ depending on how close in proximity I was to Zira.

"What is this thing?" I asked forcing myself to my feet again as Zira swore up a storm under her breath.

"It's a _soul chain_ ; it's used as a form of _torture_." She growled unpleasantly. "Our own _life force_ forms the chain so the _longer_ it's stretched the more it _hurts_."

"Wonderful." I complained sourly as I struggled to fight off the pain I was already experiencing before attempting to get a look at our opponent which turned out to be some kind of large – _octopus_ – with _teeth_. Or at least that was about the closest I could come to describing it.

"I should also mention." Zira added dryly and I looked back at her as she continued. "If the chain is ever _cut_ –" She continued looking at the creature as it drew out several tentacles that suddenly altered their slithery construction to one with a razor _shape_ edge.

"It'll _kill_ us both."

* * *

 _Aiya!_

X)

Please review


	6. Chapter 5

Sorry I'm late

Busy day

X)

* * *

Chapter 5:

( _Donnie's POV_ )

" _Aiya_!" I swore again as I looked between the unpleasant black cuff on my wrist to the prickly blob of goo that was bearing down on us with all blades blazing. "Anything _else_ I should know about?" I asked before Zira and I simultaneously booked it to one side trying to keep the link between us as short as possible.

"Yeah, it'll be _painful_ ; _really_ painful _._ " She added unhelpfully as she continued to examine the creature with a questionable look. "I've heard it can sometimes take _days_ for the person to finally die."

"You wouldn't happen to have any words of wisdom regarding _removing_ _it_?" I insisted before we dodged again as the thing's tentacles slithered out in an attempt to grab us.

"They've _redesigned_ it." She proclaimed taking a moment to study the cuff on her own wrist. "I honestly _don't know_ , but our only change might be to get that thing they used to make it." She added sternly which I agreed with.

"Sounds simple enough." I growled sarcastically before we started running as our opponent charged again. "Well at least it's not _skilled_." I added as I looked back to watch the creature pound its bladed limbs into the ground like sledgehammers.

"Yeah but it only needs _one_ hit." Zira proclaimed redundantly and I quietly narrowed my eyes before turning to glare at her.

"You must be a real _hoot_ at parties." I muttered sourly causing her to return the look before we were forced to dodge again. "What I wouldn't give for one of Leo's _plans_ right about now." I stated under my breath as we turned back around to face the – _Spasmosaur_?

I couldn't help but give the large floating box in the middle of the arena a strange look as it announced the name of the creature and a guess as to how much longer it would take for it to _eat_ us.

But it was while I looked back down that I happened to spot something on the other end of the stadium that gave me an idea that my oldest brother might just be crazy enough to try.

"Zira." I whispered quickly getting her attention. "I have an idea."

"You sure it can _go_ that fast?" She asked after I'd informed her of the plan and we both turned back to watch the crazy octopus-thing muddling toward us at an admittedly _slow_ pace.

"It will if we tick it off." I announced and she opened her mouth to protest further but suddenly seemed to decide that we had nothing better to try and shut up again before we stopped running in order to reverse course and instigated a charge of our own.

However it didn't take long to discover that the blob creature's skin was apparently made of _rubber_ as it wouldn't relent to any of our attacks. Even Zira's _gun_ (that I would really rather not know where she'd been hiding all this time) was basically useless.

And speaking of Zira

"Hey!" She suddenly complained and I quickly looked toward the spot she'd just been standing only to find that she was now about 8 feet in the air with a large purple tentacle wrapped around her waste.

I realized immediately that even that short distance was causing _pain_ through the cuff but it was manageable as I looked around for a way to get her down only to find a whole heard of sharpened limbs headed in my direction – which gave me another idea.

As swiftly as I could I back-stepped out of their way and started leading the tentacles in a race around the blob-creature wincing slightly as the pain from the cuff grew more intense. But soon enough I made it to the other side and headed straight for the one holding Zira which appeared to be trying to crush her.

But before the Spasmosaur could cause serious damage I managed to jump up and flip over the top of the limb before looking back as I hit the ground to find that my plan had worked.

As the limbs had followed me around picking up speed they weren't able to slow down in order to avoid ramming into one of their own, thus the creature had embedded its own weapon into itself causing it to cry out with an _unholy_ shriek of pain.

"You okay?" I asked as it dropped Zira directly into my arms and we high-tailed it out of there as the monster started thrashing around in anger.

"Yeah – how did you –" She started but I quickly interrupted.

"It doesn't matter how strong or flexible the material." I started as I got her moving again while simultaneously maneuvering us into position as the creature began slithering toward us at top speed. " _Anything_ can be damaged if it's _smashed_ into _itself_." I finished before turning to make sure the creature was still behind us.

It was hard to tell if I _liked_ the idea that it was right on our tail as I realized that the thing could actually travel _a lot_ faster than I first thought. And apparently this wasn't something people saw often for the announcers had started commenting on its speed as well.

"If we die I'm gonna _kill_ you." Zira threatened as we reached the other side of the arena where I ignored her in favor of giving the signal to jump.

For future reference running up the side of a large statue and flipping over the top of the huge holy-shit-osaurs behind you is definitely easier said than done – but we managed. However as we hit the ground again the impact immediately caused my shoulder to flare and I saw stars which had me falling to my knees while my plan continued to fall into place.

A little _too_ well.

Realizing that I was directly in the path of the statue as it toppled over to crush the Spasmosaur with its shear weight I understandably thought of myself as a turtle pancake until the ground shook with the impact and I realized I _wasn't_ dead.

Opening my eyes again I quickly found that Zira had actually pushed me out-of-the-way at the last second even though that meant she would have endangered herself.

"Hi!" She said simply as we both noticed that we were in a rather – _questionable_ –position.

"Hi!" I offered back before she got off me to straighten her hair and dust some dirt from her suit as if nothing had happened.

My own movement wasn't as graceful as I was certainly in a lot more pain which allowed me to come to the disagreeable conclusion that that the fight had actually caused the wound in my shoulder to _reopen_.

However I wasn't given a lot of time to try and treat it again before I realized that we had been surrounded by yet another heard of Triceratons – with guns.

"Not _again_!" I complained tiredly just before hitting the ground as I lost consciousness.

…

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

Earth

"Damn it!" Leo swore under his breath looking around in all directions for any sign of his hotheaded brother. "Anything?" He asked looking in Mikey's direction as he ran by his side.

"I – I –" Mikey started in obvious distress as he attempted to use his finder power to locate their missing sibling. "I don't know." He finally finished before stopping in his tracks where he fell to his knees to clutch at his head and Leo quickly reversed course to go to him. But upon finding that he was _crying_ the blue-clad ninja realized that his usual words of authority weren't going to cut it this time.

Mikey didn't need a leader – he needed a _brother_.

"It's okay." Leo said softly as he reached out to take him in his arms attempting to sooth him as much as he could by allowing the smaller turtle to cry into his shoulder. "Its okay little brother."

"Why is this _happening_?" Mikey whispered around his tears. "We trained for this Leo, we were _ready_."

"No." Leo answered simply as he continued to rub his brother's shell in an attempt to instill comfort. "We weren't ready for _this_."

…

Raph ran like the hounds of hells were on his heels purposely using his training to block out the bond between him and his brothers so that they couldn't sense him. He couldn't face them right now, not because he was a coward but because he had to get _control_.

Super strength and blind fury were not a good combination, he could have seriously hurt Leo and he refused to risk it again until he knew for a fact that he could calm down and think straight.

He didn't know how long he ran but eventually he reached a part of town that had been nearly destroyed by the flood and he quietly situated himself inside an old rundown train station where he caught his breath.

"What is _wrong_ with me?" Raph whispered painfully as he laid his head against a wall. But as if in response to that question he suddenly caught the motion of a _shadow_ out of the corner of his eye and he quickly looked over to tell his brother to go away, but it _wasn't_ his brother and he quickly pulled out his sai in one swift movement as he recalled that he had made a few new _friends_ earlier that day and that they now had him completely _surrounded_.

…

Triceraton Home World

"Come on Sparky." Zira whispered worriedly as she slapped the turtle's face in an attempt to wake him up before leaning down to listen for his heartbeat which she found was so _weak_ that she was lucky to even find it.

"He doesn't look good." Traximus announced as he walked up with a little bowl which he handed to her.

"His shoulder's infected." She stated while carefully collecting the gooey substance from the dish before reaching out to apply it directly to the wound.

"He _doesn't_ have a fever though." Trax proclaimed as he felt the turtle's face in confusion.

"He _won't_." She said simply realizing that her patient had a _cold-core_ just as she did; (or whatever similar thing they called it in _Earth_ _terms_.)

Traximus awaited further explanation but none came as Zira continued to gently spread the goop into the wound which she hoped would help his body fight off the infection before wiping the gunk off her hand and _licked_ one of her fingers which she then used to trace the injury, leaving the antibodies in her saliva, which were nearly 100 times more potent than that of other creatures, to immediately close the wound in order to protect the medicine within and insure that the healing process was uninterrupted.

"I've never seen you this – _protective_ of someone." Trax stated with a raised eye-ridge in her direction as she finished her task, with instantly caused her to narrow her eyes at him.

"I _need_ him." She answered sternly and raised her right wrist to show the dino-alien her end of the soul chain. "If you haven't _noticed_." She added but the man just smiled in an unconvinced fashion.

"You're a complicated woman Zira." He complained with a shake of his head before getting to his feet to leave her to the task.

"Trax!" She called after him and he stopped to look back at her. "He won't _survive_ another round, we need an out." She said simply causing him to blink before thinking about that for a moment and nodded.

"I'll see what I can do." He offered before turning to walk away again.

* * *

Please Review

I'd like to know your opinion's on Zira

XD


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

( _Donnie's POV_ )

I winced slightly against the soft light on my face as I slowly came to and realized that I really felt a lot _better_. It would seem that the nano-bots in my system had forced me into a _hibernation_ state to repair themselves and sitting up again I noticed that they had _accomplished_ that goal for the injury to my shoulder had almost completely healed over.

However that wasn't the _only_ thing I noticed as I took a look around and realized that I wasn't in the same place I had been before and suddenly I had to wonder just how _long_ I had been asleep.

I tried to avoid panic but it was somewhat difficult as I knew full well that my body could have easily decided to recuperate for months or even _years_ and I wouldn't realize it until I was looking at the date on a newspaper.

"Hey?" A voice suddenly said and I looked around to find Zira leaning against a wall nearby. "It's about time." She commented which only made me that much more nervous.

"How – how long have I been out?" I asked quickly hoping that she would understand that I needed an answer and not her usual sarcasm.

"Just a little over a day." She answered seriously and I found myself taking a breath in relief. It was still a little longer than I _liked_ but I'd take a single day over something-plus years anytime.

"Okay." I stated as she walked over to help me to my feet before taking me outside where I realized that (for once) we weren't actually in a prison. "Where are we?"

"Rebel base." She explained simply as I looked around at all the _tents_ scattered aimlessly about the cave-like structure. "Believe it or not the Triceratons have a lot of government issues of their own. It's only a matter of time before they have a revolution on their hands.

"And Traximus?" I added.

"He's actually the Rebel _leader_ , he's stationed himself inside The Games as a way to help prisoners escape." She explained simply as she helped me sit down near a fire where I watched several Triceratons spar in the corner for moment.

"It would have been nice if he could've gotten us out _sooner_ , but I guess I shouldn't complain." She finished sourly however I ignored her as I looked toward the ground realizing that I finally had a little time to think over everything that had happened and maybe come up with a plan to get myself home.

…

"Zira." I finally spoke up after several minutes of consideration and she turned to look at me again. "I have a plan, but I need a _favor_."

"You still wanna go back to Earth?" She asked simply and I nodded without looking up, half expecting her to argue about the legitimacy of that again but she only looked away as she answered.

"It isn't going to be _easy_." She said looking down at the black cuffs that connected us and I laughed dryly at that.

"Yes I know." I admitted. "But if it works; we'll be free, I'll get what I want and you'll get a lot of _money_." I added causing her to smile briefly before looking at me in interest.

"And what kind of master plan have you cooked up to make _that_ happen?"

"I'm sure you know of a few – _clients_ who would be interested in a _Quantitative_ _Aptitudinal_." I stated causing her to raise an eyebrow at me as I continued. "Come on, you must be pretty ticked off now that you can't _sell me_ anymore."

"What makes you think I was _going_ to?" She asked with an air of boredom.

"Because I'm _rare_ ," I replied simply before adding smartly. "And I'm not stupid."

She laughed under her breath as she sat up a little straighter to fold her legs in consideration. "Assuming that we _can_ –" She started and I didn't miss the way she rubbed her hand over the soul cuff on her wrist. "You'd really be willing to _sell_ yourself?"

"If that's what it takes." I told her seriously and she scoffed before regarding me with her full attention.

"What did you have in mind?"

…

"You want to _what_?" Traximus stated in disbelief as we spoke near a hole in the sewer wall that apparently led to the arena. "I knew you were crazy Zira but I didn't think you had a _death wish_."

"I'm going to _pretend_ that was a compliment." She answered dryly before going on. "And besides – I think it'll _work_."

"And it may just give you and your rebels the distraction you need to _overthrow_ your Prime Leader." I added sternly causing the Triceraton to look at me in consideration.

"True." He admitted. "But the only reason we haven't attacked yet is because I _refuse_ to lose _anyone_ in a frontal assault. I'm not about to forgo that reasoning just because _you_ think you're _expendable_."

"I don't!" I argued causing them both to look at me strangely and I sighed. "Okay so _after_ what I just suggested that might be hard to believe. But trust me I _know_ what I'm doing."

The larger male continued to stare at me for a minute before turning away with a growl. "I don't know." He admitted solemnly.

"Traximus," I started again seriously causing him to look back at me. "I appreciate your concern, believe me it's _welcome_ after everything I've been through, but I _need_ to get _home_." I was practically _begging_ by the time I finished that statement but still he continued to look un-persuaded.

" _Please_!" I added quietly. "There are people _waiting_ for me."

It took another second but he finally released a large breath as he gave in to my pleading. "Alright, how can I help?"

…

"That reminds me, you own me a new _helmet_." Zira stated as she was finally able to _replace_ the black suit she had lost with one the Triceraton rebels had in their arsenal of stolen items.

I just gave her a look as I took in that statement before reaching down to pick up said object from the table and handed it to her, though I immediately recognized that the helmet in my hand was an _older_ version, the thing was still extremely _similar_ to the one she had been using.

"You really expect me to keep using _this_ piece of junk?" She commented looking at the head gear sourly and I sighed.

"You are an extremely difficult person to satisfy." I stated simply as I buttoned up the long white and black jacket I had been given before pulling the hood over my face and turned to walk over to Traximus as he donned a suit of his own only his was that of a _guard_.

"Well boys." Zira stated commandingly in the process of placing her helmet on her head as she walked up as well. "Let's go cause an anarchy."

…

About an hour later we had meandered through a maze of sewers and air ducts until finally reaching what looked to be a main entrance to the upper fortress which immediately caused Zira to laugh about something.

"Hiding your rebel base right under the Prime Leader's nose." She commented in amusement. "Now _that_ takes some serious horns." She added causing the Triceraton to smile proudly.

"Zanramon is so concerned with his _war_ that he does not even _notice_ us." Traximus proclaimed and I couldn't help but laugh lightly at the irony before he turned back to me.

"Are you ready?" He asked and I nodded before holding out my wrists so he could put another pair of glowing blue cuffs on them. He then carefully hide the key card in my hand before taking one last look around and quickly fell into character and walked out into the elaborate hallway.

We passed several guards on the way but none of them seemed to think anything of us as we finally arrived at the Prime Leader's throne room and stopped. "Good luck my friends." Traximus added quietly then stood up a bit straighter as he reached out to push open the large double doors and lead the way inside.

I kept my head down and hidden under the hood of my coat as I surveyed the area, taking in the large Triceraton statues and a raised platform at the end of a red-carpeted path. Considering the layout I admittedly expected the Prime Leader to be rather large and intimating but instead he turned out to be rather – _short_ with an _obvious_ inferiority complex.

"Prime Leader." Traximus interrupted as we reached the stairs causing the smallerlizard to cut himself off from yelling at anotherTriceraton and rounded on him.

"What?" He bellowed angrily and I had to struggle to hold in my laughter as his voice reminded me of that of a spoiled child.

It was no wonder they wanted him overthrown.

"A bounty hunter has brought something to our attraction that we think you might be interested in." Traximus continued calmly causing the Prime Leader to look at Zira.

"What is it?" He demanded in a slightly more collected tone of voice.

"A Quantitative Aptitudinal." She answered simply and the Triceraton quickly moved forward to focus on her more intently.

"I'm listening." He stated obviously interested and Zira quietly reached over to push me ahead of her a step while still making sure to keep her hand on my shoulder.

"I found him on a measly backwater planet." She started again with a grin. "I'm willing to _trade_ if you've got the grease."

The Triceraton promptly snarled at her before getting to his feet and strolled down the steps to study me like a piece of art in an auction. "How do I know he's the real thing?"

Zira just laughed before showing him my gantlet which she activated and thus caused the large screen in the room to start playing 'born to be wild' at full volume.

"Turn that off!" The leader promptly ordered the officer on deck as he covered his ears in anger and I couldn't help but chuckle again as the guy quickly ran over to a control panel where he tried several buttons before he was finally forced to just kill the power completely.

"The technology on his planet was at the level of a space worm but yet he still managed to make _this_ little beauty." Zira explained sassily motioning toward the gantlet again. "Just _imagine_ what he could make with _your_ technology."

"Very well." Zanramon said with a pleased little smile but I caught something else in his voice that I didn't like. "How much?"

"A couple hundred pleasure gems should do it." Zira suggested with a smirk.

"Very well." He agreed again without ever losing his smile which I found odd. I didn't care how much a _pleasure gem_ was supposed to be worth; no onewas ever _that_ happy to give up their money. "Then perhaps we should –" He started to suggest before she interrupted him again.

"Hold up there horn-head." She stated simply. "There's a slight _hiccup_ I failed to mention."

The leader promptly lost his smile but kept his stance as he asked. "And what is that?"

"I know how you Triceratons work." She started again as she reached down to remove the glove on her right hand. "You think you can just _kill_ me and take the prize. Well not _this_ time." She added smartly before holding up her wrist for him to see the soul chain which immediately caused the leader to growl as she finished her statement. "If I _die_ so will _he_."

'Funny she didn't mention that _before_.' I thought to myself but kept quiet as I listened to the rest of the exchange.

"You are well prepared." Zanramon stated as he looked at the tattoo on her arm before turning back to speak with his officer again. "How many pleasure gems do we have?" The Triceraton promptly answered with a word or number that I didn't understand but judging from Zira's smile I'd say it was a lot.

"That'll do." She declared smartly causing the leader to round on her again and I found myself really wishing that she'd get her priorities straight before she got us both killed.

The Prime Leader was obviously about to say something along the same lines when the door opened again and another Triceraton that I unfortunately _recognized_ strolled in.

"What is it Gruell?" The leader demanded as the _arena master_ waltzed up to us and I quickly hid my face again.

"Prime Leader." Gruell proclaimed roughly. "Two of my prisoners have _escaped_."

' _Aiya_!' I thought again as I realized _which_ two prisoners he was referring to.

"That is not _my_ problem Gruell." Zanramon proclaimed with a growl.

"But one of them – was – a – " The other Triceraton started to complain when something caught his eye and he slowly looked toward the floor which caused Zira's _tail_ to flip a little in annoyance. " _Algon_." Gruell finished before looking up at Zira in recognition and she sighed dejectedly.

"That was a lot of pleasure gems too." She complained sadly before reaching out to whiplash him with her gun sending the guy straight to the ground like a sack of potatoes which allowed me to make my move and rush the Prime Leader.

In less time then it would have taken to blink I had used the hidden key card to deactivate the cuffs again, remove my scarf and used it as a shield to catch the alien's fist when he tired to punch me. A second later I had wrapped it around his wrist forced his arm behind his back and turned him around to promptly inform the Triceraton Officer of his leader's new place in the food chain.

"Don't even think it." Zira warned dangerously when he tried to go for his blaster anyway only for her put her own gun against his head.

"Guard!" The Prime Leader whined toward Traximus. "Arrest these traitors!" He demanded before I readjusted my position and wrapped the other end of my scarf around his muzzle to shut him up.

"You know I don't like being called a _traitor_ by someone I've _never met_." I stated sourly as Traximus ignored the demand and walked over to speak with the Officer.

"Commander Mozar." He said respectfully. "Revolution is upon us."

Mozar growled in response to that which caused the Prime Leader to mumble something about an attack and the officer quickly lifted his weapon again.

"You're an honorable solder Mozar." Traximus tried again causing the Triceraton to pause. "Surely you can see what this pointless war has _cost_ us. It must _end_."

"Mozar!" Zanramon suddenly yelled as he managed to free his mouth again. "He stands against me, _destroy_ him." He demanded as I stopped in my motion to shut him up again when I realized that he was digging his own grave.

"But he does not stand against the _Republic_." Mozar suddenly complained. "He is one of our _own_."

"He's a traitor." Zanramon yelled again. " _Kill_ _him_!"

"It is _your_ choice." Traximus spoke up calmly still speaking to Mozar with a great deal of respect. " _My friend_." He added which caused the other Triceraton to open his eyes a little wider before finally lowering his gun.

"Mozar!" Zanramon screamed again and I winced at the annoying noise. "Do as I say, destroy –"

"No!" Mozar suddenly commanded sternly and I smiled. "There is no _honor_ in this, it is _over_ Prime Leader."

"It is _never_ over, I –" Before the leader could finish that statement I promptly hit the back of his neck causing him to pass out.

"Anyone got a problem with that?" I asked simply causing Traximus and Mozar to blink at me in shock.

"Who _are_ you?" The commander asked off topic.

"Forget him." Zira ordered before I could answer. "You wouldn't have any idea where those _gems_ are would ya?" She added and I sighed before walking up to push her out-of-the-way.

"More _importantly_ –" I started declaring the word toward Zira sternly as she folded her arms to ignore me. "Do you know how to get _these_ off?" I asked lifting my arm to show him the tattoo causing Mozar to look at it before looking over my shoulder at Gruell who was still out cold on the floor.

" _He_ would be the only that would know." He admitted.

"Fair enough." Zira proclaimed and moved over to lift the arena master's face from the ground so she could slap him a few times.

"You're _enjoying_ that aren't you?" I stated with a raised eye-ridge causing her to grin evilly.

" _Exceptionally_!" She announced before whacking him a few more times however she didn't get the chance to pound him back into consciousness before an _alarm_ suddenly started to sound throughout the base.

"What –" Mozar asked no one particular before we all turned to find that the Prime Leader was _gone_.

"No!" Traximus called when he spotted the dinosaur all the way on the other side of the room and charged after him only to be stopped when the large double doors were closed and locked from the outside. "Damn it!" Trax swore pounding his fists into the blockage but it wouldn't give way.

"It's no use, that door can withstand a _missile_." Mozar announced before the Prime Leader's voice suddenly commanded over a loud speaker that all available troops were to arrest the traitors in his throne room.

Traximus growled at the words before turning back to me and Zira. "We need to get you out of here"

"Ow!" I cried angrily when Zira suddenly haled off and hit my bad arm.

"What happened?" She demanded. "I thought you knocked him out?"

"I thought I _did_ – but their bodies must be built _differently_." I admitted solemnly causing her to glare at me. "Well _excuse_ _me_ for being a little _stressed_."

"He won't get far." Mozar suddenly told us and we turned back to look at him as he activated something on the control table causing a wall to suddenly slid away nearby. "I am not the _only one_ who is weary of his _ways_." He added before motioning toward the exit. "Now go!"

"But –" I started to complain before Traximus suddenly started shooting at the door, blasting it multiple times until finally after nearly a solid minute of constant fire it gave way.

"He is right." The rebel stated seriously. "This is a _Triceraton_ matter, no others should be involved."

"But we haven't removed the chain yet." I proclaimed truthfully.

"Forget that – I didn't get my _pleasure gems_." Zira complained again leaving me to sigh in response.

I was starting to think she might be a little _stubborn_

"If you get far enough from the power source the cuffs will _fade_." Mozar explained before looking toward Zira. "And I hate to break it to you but the Prime Leader never _intended_ to pay you. In fact all of our pleasure gems are half way across the galaxy on another base."

"What?" Zira demanded angrily but I quickly grabbed her shoulder and steered her toward the doorway in the wall.

"Thank you." I offered the Triceratons respectfully before forcing her to run.

"Good luck." Traximus called back from the main doorway. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

…

Zira swore under her breath the whole time we were running through the secret passage but she still kept up with me until we reached what appeared to be a hanger.

"I don't believe this." She complained loudly as we made our way toward the only ship in the place. "What's the galaxy coming too when a person can't even make a decent _trade_?"

"Yeah, 'cause god forbid they _swindle_ the _swindler_." I told her sourly pointing out that _we_ weren't exactly the model of good business-persons ourselves.

"That is _beyond_ the point." She proclaimed before a door suddenly opened somewhere in the room and we both ducked down into the shadows as another Triceraton huffed his way into the middle of the platform where he quickly noticed that the ship hadn't taken off yet.

"Donatello?" He asked the room looking around slightly and I got up to see who he was. "Ah there you are." He said once he saw me and walked over. "My name is Monza Ram." He greeted with a raised fist to his chest. "Traximus asked me to bring this to you." He explained before holding out my medical bag as well as my _staff_.

"Oh!" I said in shock reaching out to take it and immediately felt better with its familiar weight in my hands. "Thank you." I offered with a deep bow and he smiled before looking around as a couple loud bangs interrupted us.

"Quickly!" He commanded pointing us toward the ship as he turned around to level his gun at the door to cover our getaway.

"What's going on?" I had to ask as Zira booked it toward the cruiser and I winced as the soul chain was pulled a little too thin between us.

"Not _everyone_ is ready to forget the _glory_ the Prime Leader has brought us." Monza Ram explained before looking back at me as I panicked slightly, thinking that maybe I should have _listened_ to Traximus. "Do not concern yourself my friend." He added reaching out to place his large hand on my shoulder. "Because of you our people can regain their _honor_ , and for that I thank you."

"Sparky!" Zira suddenly called and winced again as I found that suddenly I didn't want to leave.

"It is alright." Monza Ram assured me. "There have been no casualties, we _will_ be victorious."

"Get _over_ here!" Zira added sternly and I hesitantly turned away from the Triceraton to run over to the ship where I looked back only once to find the alien nodding at me before rushing back into the bowels of the base to continue the fight.

"Honestly, men are so _sentimental_." I heard Zira complaining from the front of the ship as I jumped down inside and closed the hatch behind me as I felt the thing lifting off a second later.

"You do know how to fly this thing _right_?" I asked as I grabbed onto something to avoid falling on my face as she accidently rammed the side of the ship into a wall.

"This is the Prime Leader's _privet_ cruiser; you'd think it'd at least have _voice_ _command_." She muttered in annoyance as I carefully made my way into the other seat to take a look at what we were dealing with.

However her complaint gave me an idea and I quickly reached over to take my gantlet back causing her to protest. Apparently she had been hoping that I wouldn't _notice_ that she hadn't returned it yet.

A second later I had activated a program and lifted my arm up to my mouth where I began to speak. "Computer!" I ordered and Zira looked at me strangely as my voice came out sounding like the Prime Leader's.

"Take us out." I added when I heard the control panel acknowledge my command and suddenly the ship was moving much more gracefully as it shot out of the hanger and into a tunnel only to exit the base completely a minute later which was when I caught Zira glaring at me out of the corner of my eye and turned to smile at her.

"Show off." She insulted and I laughed lightly before turning back to look out the window at the several tri-bases floating around in the air space of an _orange_ planet. However I didn't get a lot of time to admire the view before we suddenly found ourselves being _shot at_.

"Oh honestly!" Zira swore as a screen came up showing us that we had several cursers on our tail.

"Those don't look like Triceraton ships." I commented truthfully.

"That's because they're _not_." She proclaimed sternly. "They're from the _Federation_ , they must think we're the Prime Leader."

"You know I've had a lot of bad luck in my life but I swear it was never _this_ bad until I met _you_." I grumbled seriously as I reached out to take the steering wheel in an attempt to avoid some of the laser fire.

"I was about to say the _same thing_." She announced absentmindedly while taking the other wheel so she could return fire. However it appeared that _nether one_ of us were too skilled with flying a space cruiser (or at least the _Triceraton_ model) as only a few minutes later we'd been hit and suddenly the alarms started going off as the thing declared that we should prepare for a _crash_ landing.

"How about _not_." I yelled back at the computer while I struggled to stay in control of the dropping vessel. "I've spent _more_ than enough time in a prison cell, I certainly don't need to see the Federation version."

"Can't argue with you there." Zira piped up as she attempted to pull back on the other wheel but still it wouldn't pull up and we were swiftly getting closer and closer to the planet.

"I have an idea." She suddenly added and I looked at her out of the corner of my eye as she continued. "But you're _not_ gonna like it."

"Is it better than death?" I asked absentmindedly as the windows started to turn red with the heat of entering the atmosphere.

"That depends on your definition of _better_." She answered nervously.

"I'll take it." I stated watching the landscape of the unknown planet come up on us hard and fast as I tried once again to pull the fired controls out of the dive but still nothing would respond.

"I'll need a minute." She ordered immediately letting go of her steering wheel to release her seat belt and ran to the back of the ship where she pulled something from her pocket and started some kind of practiced procedure.

"I'm not sure we _have_ a minute." I told her with a wince as the ship sliced the top right off some strange looking tree. "I hope this planet isn't with green peace." I added under my breath as we took out three more.

"I'm ready." She called once we were barely _feet_ from hitting the ground at full force and I instantly hoped over my chair to join her where she quickly threw her arms around my neck.

"Hold on, this is gonna to be a _rough_ _ride_." She ordered just before we both disappeared into another flash of light.

* * *

Feed the writer

Reviews

XD


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

Earth

"Where the hell are ya guys _coming from_?" Raph complained as he threw his fist into a Gator's face before turning to flip another over his shell at the same time that he parried yet another attack with his sai but still for everyone he took out had three more taking their place.

As much as he might have been in the mood for a good fight he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up, so when he managed to kick a couple more away and caught sight of a little hole in the wall he took it.

Dodging another attack he flipped though the small exit which he was just barely able to fit though. He _hoped_ this would leave only a few of his opponents' to make it through the hole after him before it became congested with bodies but unfortunately for him it didn't work out that way, as he quickly turned around to find them just _phasing_ through the wall like a bunch of ghosts.

"Donnie didn' mention anythin about _that_." He stated more to himself as he looked around to find more Gators jumping across rooftops nearby and even _more_ scurrying among the debris of buildings.

Raph quickly found himself wishing that he had never left his brothers as his breath grew shorter and shorter the more he was forced to dodge and his strength grew less and less the longer he was forced to fight and on top of that he couldn't even seem to get a hit in anymore.

He didn't know if they were using that phasing thing or what but every time he thought he had made contact with one of their faces they just _vanished_ only to be replaced by another that was in a position he couldn't defend from until they had finally forced him off the edge of a building.

Thankfully he was just able to catch himself on a light pole before he hit the ground which was when he realized that they weren't trying to capture him anymore, they were actually trying to _kill_ him and looking around as the goons started descending on him again he realized that he'd have to do something he really didn't want to.

 _Run_

Unfortunately even this didn't seem to help his chances as he continued trying to knock Gators away as he ran down the flooded streets but they just kept coming and coming.

However a second later he seemed to catch a break when he spotted one just causally leaning against the side of a building and knowing that the Gators were mostly innocent people being controlled from within he couldn't help but stop and look at the guy who was obviously very much _free_.

Now Raph wasn't anywhere near as good as Mikey when it came to finding connections between things but he could certainly recognize a _leader_ when he saw one.

"Are _you_ doin' this?' Raph demanded sternly causing the mutant to smirk at him smugly. "Ya son-of-a –" The red-clad ninja swore before charging again.

Knowing that the _angrier_ he was the less _pain_ his body would feel and thus the more _strength_ he would be able to hone gave Raph the juice he needed to plow through the Gators in his path and throw his fist into the leader's chest as hard as he could.

However that anger was suddenly replaced with confusion when he looked down and realized he'd just phased straight _through_ the guy leaving no harm in his wake.

"That's too bad." The man proclaimed suddenly causing the turtle to look up at him as he pulled his arm back and the Gator shook his head like he was disappointed about something.

"You would have made an _excellent_ General." He added sadly and then as if a switch had just been flipped – he was _gone._

But unfortunately Raphael didn't get the chance to reply or even think about the sudden turn of events before his confusion was replaced by panic as a loud sound had him looking up in horror to realize that the building he had just _hit_ , which had already started to crumble in on its water-weakened base, could no longer support itself now that he had taken out one of its corners and even though he tried to get out-of-the-way there wasn't enough time before the whole tower collapsed on top of him.

…

( _Donnie's POV_ )

The world turned inside out as gravity stopped working properly as though I'd just done a back-flip right off the edge of reality. It was a miracle that I was able to stay in control of my whirling mind much less stay close to Zira the whole time, but somehow I managed as everything once again came into focus and we slammed into the ground a minute later.

"Ow!" I proclaimed sourly as I released my hold on Zira's waist so she could get off me. However I realized quickly that even with the release of pressure on my chest I was still having a hard time _breathing_.

"Not again." I complained as I immediately attempted to calm myself enough to start taking internal breaths like I had before as I realized that the world we were on didn't offer the right amount of oxygen (or whatever it was I could breathe now) to survive.

But thankfully Zira was prepared once again as she quickly rushed back to me with some kind of funny looking plant and forced me to drink the fowl liquid within its bell. Almost instantaneously this allowed me to breathe again; though it was still painful for my throat to suck in the unqualified air.

"Easy." She told me gently rubbing my shoulder as I continued to lie on the ground. "Just take little breathes, you'll be okay." She instructed before turning around to study the jungle around us obviously looking for something.

"What's out there?" I asked painfully, clearly she was quiet familiar with the planet so there had to be a reason she was suddenly so – _jumpy_.

"Plenty of things." She answered absentmindedly. "Many of them _hungry_." She added before reaching down to help me to my feet and started walking me slowly through the trees. "But we're not that far from the wall, they should keep their distance."

"Should?" I asked before reaching up to grab my throat as it tried to close up again but she quickly made me drink from the plant once more and I realized my breathing was slowly becoming easier with every swallow. "Okay – we're being serious this time." I started again. "I _am_ going to be able to breathe _oxygen_ again – right?"

"Yeah." She answered with a little smile in my direction before turning to watch the jungle for any sign of movement. "You'll be just fine." She added simply and for some reason I found I could actually _believe_ her this time.

"I've heard of universal translators but never universal _oxygen_ _converters_." I commented as I was able to start walking again on my own.

"This whole _planet_ started off as an experiment to support all manor of life regardless of their origin." She explained quietly. "Many of the plants are designed to adapt a person's airway so they can breathe here. I just _enhanced_ it so I could use it on other worlds too."

"If it's an _experiment_ then where is everyone?" I asked curiously.

"The testing had its downsides and they abandoned the research." She stated simply. "But since then many species have taken shelter here after losing their own worlds, _my_ _clan_ was one of them."

"So why did you leave?" I requested respectfully after a minute and she watched me out of the corner of her eye as she considered answering.

"It wasn't the planet." She answered with a sigh. "I actually loved it here as a child, what I couldn't take were my people's _rules_."

"Ah!" I stated understandably as I studied the wildlife around us, finding that I would honestly love to study the place further, but I couldn't help but look at the ground as I remembered that I was still trying to get back to my own planet and realized that I had been separated from my brothers for quite some time now. However instead of getting closer it seemed like I was only getting father away.

At the rate I was going it would take me months, maybe _years_ to get back.

"I'm sorry." Zira suddenly proclaimed and I looked back to find her holding up the little machine she had used to bring us here. "The transporter can only be used _once_ before it needs to be recharged." She explained simply before carefully disengaging a little gold stone from the center of the thing which I recognized as the _gem_ she wore on the chocker around her neck.

" _This_ can be used as an alternative power source but it didn't have enough juice to get us all the way back to Earth." She continued in a surprisingly _sad_ voice. "If I could I – I _would_ have sent you _home_."

"It's okay." I stated realizing that we were both so exhausted that we didn't even have the strength to criticize each other any more.

"You say that _now_." She added with a sour little smile and I was about to comment again that when we both instinctively became aware of the fact that we were being _watched_ and promptly stood back to back in preparation of our opponent which caused us to quickly give each other a strange look in response to the unexpected _synergetic_ _cooperation_.

"T _old_ you we'd make a good team." She stated with a little laugh.

"I already _have_ a team." I told her stubbornly as I kept my eyes on a spot in the trees which was looking _back_ at me. It only took another minute for them to finally make themselves known which caused me to drop my guard a little in shock as I noticed something _similar_.

"I thought Traximus said all your people were _gone_?" I asked quietly so only Zira could hear me.

"What can I say, we're survivors." She answered simply as I looked around at the 8 armor-clad raptor-aliens which I realized quickly were all _female_ except for one who looked noticeably different.

He was obviously a different _species_ of raptor as he had a much more pronounced beak than Zira or the other's more human-like faces, and it was this one that walked up to Zira with a surprised look and started talking in the same strange language she had used when I first met her.

I was able to follow the gist of his words just by watching his body language. 'What are you doing here, where have you been, who is the terrapin?' were obvious questions that were asked but what really got me was that Zira answered them all in _English_ and he seemed to have no issue understanding her.

It was then that I realized the translation was only on _my_ end as I could understand _her_ just fine but when it came to _others_ I was cut out of the equation. This in turn allowed me to come to a rather surprising conclusion; that the _Triceratons_ had spoken _English_.

I had to admit I wasn't expecting that but I still couldn't help but sigh as I realized that I'd have to keep my mouth shut from this point on, as knowing _my_ luck I'd probably cause an intergalactic war just by trying to say 'hi.'

Thankfully no Armageddon or other unpleasant thing presented itself as the two talked and after a minute the man motioned for his troops to fall in and they started herding Zira and I through the forest.

"They won't hurt you." She informed me. "They assume all outsiders are from rival clans who would take _revenge_ if you were killed."

"What about _you_?"

This earned me a little smile before she proclaimed with jest. "Is that _concern_ I hear?"

"Maybe a little." I admitted.

"I'll be fine, they wouldn't hurt me." She answered simply. "They wouldn't _dare_." She added more to herself than me but my expert hearing still picked up the words.

Several minutes later we arrived at the place that I guessed was _The Wall_ , which turned out to be a row ofmountains that I realized were actually made of pure _diamond_.

"Maybe I shouldn't mention it – but – this stuff is actually worth _a lot_ on my planet." I added under my breath tapping my fist against the colorful wall as we were led through an intricate network of caves causing Zira to look at me in disbelief.

"But it's as common as space dust." She announced with a raised eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"As the plague." I proclaimed simply and she smiled before turning to study the walls with a new kind of fascination.

"I'll remember that."

A few minutes later we were deep in the cave were the diamond was dull and lusterless resulting in a darkening of the surroundings as we finally came upon a big fancy door where the man from before informed his troops to stay with us as he ventured inside, which allowed Zira to put a few leaves from a plant that I didn't recognize into my hand.

"Eat this." She ordered quietly.

I didn't ask why and instead just put it in my mouth and chewed it like a stick of gum trying to ignore the awful taste, I'd eaten far _worse_ things. However before I had the chance to swallow it she suddenly reached out to place her hand on the back for my neck and forced me into another kiss.

I got kind of the same feeling the last time we had done this, only this time it felt like something was being force _down_ my throat instead. But I didn't pull away and just let the process finish as the plant in my mouth dissolved and scurried down after the sensation like a bug.

I had to cough a few times when she finally let me go and it took a minute for me to collect myself again and look around to find that our guards hadn't found anything unusual about us making-out in the middle of their group, so I attempted to act like I hadn't either until the door was suddenly flung open again and a larger species of raptor-alien announced himself.

"You've _returned_." He declared in shock zeroing in on Zira intently and I jumped a little as I realized their language was suddenly translated _flawlessly_ into English.

" _Algernon_!" She acknowledged sourly earning a glare from the larger male before he took a quick look in my direction as if wondering if I had _heard_ her.

However in doing so we both seemed to suddenly become struck with a bought of déjà vu as we did a quick double-take and stared at each other for half a second in an attempt to figure out _where_ we had met before.

But the moment passed quickly and we both shook our heads as he returned his attention to Zira again. " _Where_ have you been?" He demanded in a tone of voice I recognized.

"I don't see how that's any of _your_ business." She countered obviously irate about something which almost made me want to step out-of-the-way and let them fight but something about the confrontation ate at me.

Being so far from my own I really hated to see _family_ fighting like that.

"Zira maybe you should be a little more _respectful_ to your _father_." I suggested but while I had expected her to promptly tell me to shut my trap (which she did) what I _didn't_ expect was for Algernon to look at me sternly in obvious shock.

"How do you know her _name_?" He demanded and I quickly took a step back.

I was about to answer when Zira punched me in the arm and informed him herself. "I _told_ him." She declared loudly so the whole room could hear. "I am no longer apart of this clan father. I do not _live_ by your _customs_."

Algernon promptly glared at her again then looked over her shoulder to make a motion with his head toward the guards before returning to the room beyond the double doors leaving his people to suddenly start pushing Zira and I behind him.

"What's going on?" I asked in a whisper as we were forcibly led down a long walkway toward what looked to be a _throne_.

"Nothing you need to worry about." She muttered with a sneer. "Just old traditions whose time has _come_."

"Well it doesn't look like its come just yet." I informed her sourly as we were forced to kneel before the throne where it didn't take but a second for Zira to be on her feet again, however I respectfully stayed on the ground hoping to make a better impression than the one I already had.

"I require the motion stone." She demanded of Algernon causing him to look at her as he folded his hands behind his back and scowled. "We'll leave and you'll see nothing more of us." She added sternly

"I cannot allow that." He declared quietly as he began to walk back 'n forth in front of the throne. "You are my _daughter_ , your safety is my concern."

Well I had to hand it to the guy, for being the one to raise a person like _Zira_ he certainly had his priorities straight.

"I don't _need_ your protection." She demanded and her father sighed before turning to look at me instead.

"You probably have no idea what we're discussing do you?" He asked kindly.

"Not a clue." I admitted causing Zira to attempt retaliation in the form of another punch but I dodged it this time as I got to my feet.

"I see you are very _skilled_." The man observed casually.

"He has _nothing_ to do with this." Zira demanded loudly. "Just give me the motion stone."

"Very well." He suddenly agreed which caused his daughter to double-take in slight shock. "But on _one_ condition." He added sternly and she glared at him again.

"Of course!" She muttered dryly and folded her arms where she proceeded to ignore us both.

"You must complete the _ritual_." He went on causing her to whip around again to decline the action but he promptly shut her up as he continued. "You are on _our_ land daughter; here we demand _order_ , you _will_ complete the ritual."

"May I ask _what_ that means?" I piped up and they both looked at me for a second before Zira finally explained.

"Here _names_ are sacred." She started giving her father a stern look out of the corner of her eye. "They're only to be known by _family_ members, but since you now know mine that means you must become apart of the clan."

"So what – I have to take a test or something?" I asked, _really_ hoping that was all there was to it.

"Not exactly." She proclaimed sourly before the guards suddenly walked back up to take our arms and started leading us out of the room again.

"Wait, wait." I demanded quickly forcing my way back around to look at Algernon again. "Then what does that _mean_? What do I have to do?" I asked again causing him to look toward me again before answering sternly.

"The two of you must be _Mated_."

* * *

The moment of 'Donnie and Algernon thinking they had met before' was admittedly a little vague, but it was just my way of pulling a 'Maverick' and showing how they had met in a pervious life (or rather back in the 1987 cartoon.)

If you remember in one of the episodes; Donatello had a little help from an Alien Lizard named Algernon.

Let me know in the reviews if you caught that little reference, or any of the others I've hidden throughout the story for that matter.

XD


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

( _Donnie's POV_ )

" _MATED_?" I repeated at the top of my lungs once we'd been escorted to a _bedroom_ which only made me that much more unreasonable. "I can't – we're not – _NO_!" I finally settled on stubbornly.

"I _told_ you; you wouldn't like it." Zira proclaimed simply as she sat down on one of the beds and I narrowed my eyes at her evilly.

"I think I would have preferred _death_." I growled sourly earning a glare from the woman before the door suddenly opened again and Algernon entered.

"You seem upset." He proclaimed unnecessarily most likely having heard my screaming from the hall.

"Not at all, I _love_ being dragged across the universe with the most _annoying_ travel companion in _history_." I stated sarcastically before shutting up and collapsed onto the other bed in an attempt to clam down before I completely lost it.

I swear when I finally got home I was gonna find my way to the bottom of a fifth of jack neck deep in potato chips.

"You know for your information _father_." Zira started again. "I've told _a lot_ of other men my name over the years. You gonna make me mate _them_ too."

"How many?" Algernon demanded quietly.

"Oh many, many!" She proclaimed snootily with an evil little grin in his direction causing the man to narrow his eyes at her.

"Please!" I started again after I'd managed to collect my nerves a little and sat up. "I have a family – I have to get _back_ – I can't –"

"I would never ask you to _remain_ here." The man interrupted and I quickly let out a sigh of relief as I deflated again. "I'm not sure if you're _aware_ of this but the others you met are _all_ that remain of our clan." He continued which caused me to look back at him in shock. "I would never _force_ another to share in our fate, I merely ask that you help us _preserve_ what little we still have."

"The old ways are _dead_ father." Zira suddenly declared angrily as she got up to stare him down. "And if we continue to refuse _change_ we'll die _with_ _them_."

"That's enough." He demanded before suddenly looking back at me. "Please walk with me." He requested and promptly turned to exit the room again leaving me to look at Zira in slight shock as she sat back down obviously still in a generally irritable mood, but she quickly waved for me to follow him and I quietly got to my feet to leave the room.

The guard on the other side closed the door behind me as soon I was in the hall and motioned toward Algernon who waited a few feet away rubbing his face tiredly.

"She is correct." He started softly as I walked up to him and he started to lead the way through the abandoned halls. "Our clan is _dying_ , a fact I have been aware of for many years."

"What happened?" I asked quietly and he sighed.

"I suppose – you have the right to know." He stated before stopping at a door and opened it to lead the way into what looked to be a little library; where it was obvious that he spent a lot of time from the way he relaxed upon entering and quietly motioned for me to sit as he took a chair for himself.

"Are you in pain?" He asked a little off topic motioning toward the black tattoo on my wrist, obviously knowing what it was for and I quickly realized that the chain seemed to have been seriously _weakened_ for I wasn't feeling the pressure of being separated from Zira, yet it hadn't completely faded like Mozar had suggested either.

"No." I answered truthfully but he continued to look at it in concern before holding out his hand for mine. Admittedly there was something about him that reminded me of my _own_ father so I found myself hardly hesitating to comply as I allowed him to examine it more thoroughly.

After a minute he reached up to pull a leather cord from around his neck which held another small gold crystal like the one Zira had. He then took another minute to study my wrist as if trying to figure out where he wanted to start before gently pressing the tip of the stone against the mark.

"I am sorry." He exclaimed as he continued to give the work his full attention and I watched the _words_ of the tattoo change and shift to from a different design. "But without the _Sol_ this is all I can do." He admitted before my arm suddenly seemed to become _lighter_ as the weight was finally relieved.

"I don't know what that means." I admitted as I laid my arm against my knee having not realized just how uncomfortable the weight had been until it was gone. "It's been a _long_ couple days." I added when he'd given me a studying look in response to my words.

He simply offered me little smile and nodded sadly as he returned the stone to his neck and looked back at me.

"I assume you have met the _Triceratons_." He started again and I nodded tiredly. "They were once our – well I guess you could call them our _planetary brothers_. We shared a world until it was destroyed, but instead of finding another planet they _stole_ our technology and created their floating bases to continue waging their war while _we_ were left to scatter throughout the galaxy."

"As the years wore on our clan founded groups between those that thought we should take revenge and those that had _learned_ from our ancestor's mistakes. They continued to separate until eventually even the _name_ of our original clan was lost." He went on sadly.

"The _Algon_ is simply a _branch_ of what was, what we can accomplish when we strive for _peace_ but it was for this reason that others _abandoned_ their – _unwarlike_ on our borders."

I studied that knowledge thoughtfully when he paused for a moment but didn't interrupt as he went on again. " _I_ was one of them." He said simply. "My people saw me as _weak_ and as a child I was left in a forest nearby."

"That's terrible." I stated seriously and he smiled.

"Yes." He agreed. "But to be honest I think I _prefer_ it this way. My original clan is long gone, if I had stayed I would have been destroyed right along with them."

"And I thought _I_ had family problems." I said rubbing the back of my head aimlessly and he laughed lightly before going on again.

"Since the Algon did not waste time fighting among ourselves they were far more equipped to _rebuild_ their technology." He continued as I watched him in interest. "We should have known it would only lead to disaster."

"They attacked you?" I asked realizing what had happened and he nodded.

"Many lost their lives that day and everything we had worked for was taken from us again." He concurred. "Including the soul chain." He added and I looked back down at my wrist as I acknowledged that.

"You _made_ this thing?" I whispered before I really realized that I was talking.

"Its original purpose was _not_ to torture." He concluded stiffly. "It was a man by the name of _Barron_ that designed that feature." I couldn't help but look back up in shock as he said this.

"The Barron?" I repeated causing him to look at me seriously. "He's an _Algon_ – I mean – um –" I quickly tried to correct myself only to realize that I had no other name, but Algernon smiled to let me know that it was alright and nodded to answer my question.

"So you know of him?" He asked simply.

"He – he's making a royal _mess_ of my home planet right now." I admitted solemnly. "That's why I need to get _back_."

"Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?" He stated with respect.

"Earth." I said simply before bringing the subject back. "Is there _anything_ you can tell me about him, anything that might help us _defeat_ him."

"No." He admitted sadly. "When he attacked us we never saw his true form, there was _nothing_ we could do." He added before looking at me more closely as I tried to figure out what he meant by 'true form'. "I can see she has not _told_ you." He stated suddenly which quickly made me nervous.

"Though our clan greatly favors knowledge over violence, we have come to evolve _abilities_ in order to defend ourselves." He explained simply. "Some can see the future; some of us can read minds, others can _influence_ them, like the Barron – and _Zira_." He added and I quickly stiffened.

"She can _what_?" I asked in a panic as I took that in and suddenly all those times she had tried to get me to do what she wanted made sense.

"Calm yourself please." He quickly added, kindly raising a hand to impose his order as I looked back at him. "There would be a _trace_ if she had tried to _push_ you, but I do not _sense_ one."

I released my breath as he said this but somehow that didn't make me feel any better, however I still calmed down in order to listen to him again as he went on.

"As I was saying." He continued. "Our kind is strong when it comes to the mind however when our _own_ mind _breaks_ that is when we are faced with someone like _The_ _Barron_."

"Why – what can he do?" I asked nervously and he took a deep breath before explaining.

"Somehow – he is able to not only _suggest_ but actually _control_ the minds of others."

"Oh that." I answered. "Yeah we saw that too, he uses nano-bots to –"

"No!" He suddenly interrupted and I closed my mouth to listen again. "The nano-bots simply give him a _point_ to focus on, allow him to _feel_ with their hands, _hear_ with their ears, _see_ with their eyes." He explained dramatically. "But he controls them like he controls his own body, all the while _expanding_ his reach – until he is _everywhere_."

"That _is_ bad." I admitted solemnly and he nodded.

"I watched as he controlled his own _clan_ , his friends, his _family_." Algernon went on as he closed his eyes clearly remembering a horrible time in his life. "He forced them to attack us – then _each other_."

"I can still hear their pleas as they _begged_ their loved ones to stop, I still see them in my dreams. A father killing his own mate and children before turning his blade on himself all the while _screaming_ that he could not control his actions." He elaborated quietly and I immediately felt my heart start beating faster in response.

"My god." I swore as I leaned over my knees to look at the ground.

"It was for this reason – that I – _drove_ my daughter _away_." He suddenly added and I looked up at him again as he took a deep breath. "Her _mother_ was once the leader of the Algon. When she –" He started again but became sadly silent for a minute before continuing. "Zira was too young to take her place, therefore I became _King_ ; the first one in history."

"It was _my_ duty to remain here and see to our people, but Zira is so like her mother, full of life and spirit, I knew – that if I tried to _quell_ it she would _leave_." He continued sadly. "It nearly _killed_ me, but I _had_ to – I had to _protect_ her."

It took me a minute to absorb that as I tired to respond a few times before finally I was able to speak. "She's not the easiest person in the universe to get along with, but – I'm sure she'd understand if you –"

"No!" He interrupted before looking up at me again. "I cannot risk her changing her mind and _returning_ to this doomed place."

"You're a good father." I told him genuinely and he smiled.

"You said you have a _family_? Are you –"

"No." I answered quickly before he could finish. "But I _also_ have a good father."

"I see." The man stated before going on. "And – you have a _clan_?"

"Y–yes." I answered slowly partly from depression of being separated from them and partly from the bread-in secrecy that I had lived with all my life.

"Then you understand why I ask this of you?" The man continued and I nodded.

"You don't want _me_ to be apart of your family as much as you want _her_ to be apart of _mine_." I guessed and he nodded in agreement.

"She is my daughter I must do what I can to insure her _future_." He concluded simply. "I'm just sorry I've dragged _you_ into this."

"I can – understand _why_." I proclaimed seriously. "But – you should know that I'm _not_ the leader of my clan. To insure our survival we give out our trust _sparingly_ , I can't guarantee that she'll be accepted."

He seemed to think that over for a minute before nodding. "I understand."

"Also –" I started again solemnly. "I'm still trying to get back home myself, I really don't know if she'll _follow_ me that far."

"Nor do I." He agreed absentmindedly as he looked at something on the far wall. "But I thank you anyway." He added before turning back to me with a straighter form.

"The mating ceremony with take place _tomorrow_ , I offer you asylum until then. In exchange – I _will_ return you to your home." He proclaimed and I couldn't help but sigh as I realized that he could _do it_.

"Thank you." I said with a respectful bow before he added one last thing in a quiet tone of voice.

" _Please_ – protect my daughter." He requested sadly. "She is _all_ I have left." I just looked up at him again slowly and stared into the sadness of his eyes for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"I will."

* * *

Just a simple chapter to let everything cool down before it gets serious again.

Gees, I feel sorry for Donnie, this has got to be the meanest thing I've done to him yet.

lol

(Still not a _romance_.)

Please review


	10. Chapter 9

Rated T for _suggestive_ talk (mostly Zira's) lol

* * *

Chapter 9:

Earth:

"What the _hell_?" Leo asked in shock as a building in the distance started to collapse and they both stopped in their free-running to watch it which was when he and Mikey were suddenly able to _sense_ their brother again as Raph stopped trying to block them out.

"He _didn't_." Leo complained as the structure hit the ground and filled half the city with a cloud of dust.

"You gotta hand it to him," Mikey started with a little smile. "He certainly knows how to make a scene." Leo's only response was to sigh in annoyance before leading the way over to the war-zone, wondering if his hotheaded sibling even knew the _meaning_ of the word _low_ - _profile_.

…

"Raph!" Leo called as they reached the destroyed structure before coughing a little on the dust.

"Over here!" Mikey called and he quickly zeroed in on his brother's location to find him digging through a seemingly random pile of rocks but if _Mikey_ said that was the place then that was the place.

A minute later they had cleared away half of the rubble before coming across their brother's shell and quickly dug him out the rest of the way.

"Raph!" Leo demanded as their brother coughed up a lung for half a minute before looking around at them. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly. "Say something!"

"Something!" The red-clad turtle finally commented sourly and they both sighed in relief, knowing that even Raph wouldn't have been sarcastic with them if he was seriously hurt.

"What the hell dude?" Mikey complained sternly. "What did Big Ben ever do to _you_?"

"Who?" Raph asked in confusion and his brother quickly pointing him in the direction of a large round, _destroyed_ something that resembled – nothing he had any interest in at the moment.

" _Big Ben_!" Mikey repeated. "You know – _London's_ _clock tower_!"

"Oh!" Raph stated simply as the thing he was looking at suddenly became the clear image of a clock's _face_. " _Oops_!"

"Oops?" Leo repeated with a raised eye-ridge. "I know you don't like culture bro but that's taking it a little _far_ don't you think?"

"I had a reason – _sort a_." Raph quickly countered as he got to his feet again and looked around in a hurry to locate something. " _Gators_ , a whole _army_ a 'em."

"What?" Leo stated quickly removing one of his swords from its sheath to look around for their enemy. However he didn't see any and to be honest they hadn't seen any on the way there either.

"You sure bro?" Mikey asked quietly but found he didn't have a lot of confidence in his ability to back up his doubt, as his finder power hadn't really worked all that well since Donnie disappeared.

"I – I don' know." Raph answered in disbelief reaching up to rub his shoulder absentmindedly, an obvious sign that he was uncomfortable with something which caused his brothers to look back at him questionably.

"You sure you're okay?" Leo asked simply.

"I don' know." He repeated shaking his head like he was trying to rid his brain of cotton balls. "Something's _wrong_ with me." He added in a whisper and his brothers quickly gave each other a look before Mikey moved to place his arm over his shoulders.

"It's okay bro." He said with a genuine smile. "We're all a little stressed, so what do you say we put it behind us and go find Donnie – _together_!"

Raph found himself smiling as he looked at his baby brother and nodded agreeably however he quickly remembered there was _another_ issue he had to make up for and looked at his other sibling next.

"Leo I –" He started painfully but he was quickly interrupted by a hand on his shoulder.

"It was nothing Raph." Leo told him with a smile. "Besides I'm _use_ to you using me as your personal punching bag, I would have been highly _insulted_ if you had suddenly stopped."

Raph couldn't help but laugh lightly as he said this and was about to tell him he was insane when Leo's T-phone suddenly started ringing and Mikey dove for it before either of them could even so much as twitch.

" _Donnie_?" He asked the phone without even checking the caller ID, only to deflate as the person on the other end revealed that it wasn't their brother. "Oh, hey Leatherhead." He greeted kindly trying to keep the disappointment from his voice. "Yeah he's here." He added and handed the phone back to Leo while Raph reached out to put a comforting arm around his baby brother's shell.

"Leatherhead?" Leo acknowledged as he turned on the speaker so they could all hear.

"Leonardo." The alligator countered. "Where is Donatello, I can't reach him?"

"He's –" Leo started only to look back at his brothers and changed the subject for all their sakes. "What did you need?"

The older mutant seemed to understand that something was wrong but didn't push it as he went on. "Donatello asked me to keep an eye on the Shredder while you four were gone and inform him if there was any strange movement."

This immediately made all of them nervous but Leo still asked him to go on. "I discovered the tail end of a _signal_ being transmitted to one of Shredder's bases." Leatherhead continued. "I tracked it and found that it originated from _London_."

"What?" Leo demanded in a panic.

"It _can't_ be a coincidence that these two are _communicating_ and if the Barron's learned about _you_ – " Leatherhead explained seriously before leading off with a worried tone. "You have to find him _now_ Leonardo; before he has a chance to tell Shredder you're _alive_."

…

( _Donnie's POV_ )

"Thank you." I told the guard respectfully after he had shown me the way to the room I would be staying in and he nodded before walking away. However as I opened the door it was only to find that it was the _same_ room as before.

"What does it take to get _away_ from you?" I asked sourly glaring at Zira as she lounged on my bed and I quietly made my way over to the other one she had vacated.

"I suggest you get use to it 'cause if my father has his way we'll be spending _a lot_ more time together." She answered clearly put off by the whole situation.

"I don't think you give him enough credit." I stated seriously. "He's only trying to do what he thinks is right."

"You know nothing about him." She proclaimed sternly. "He'll find any loophole he can to get what he wants from you."

"So he's just like _you_ then." I asked simply as I sat down again earning a glare for my trouble.

"You're just not going to let that go are you?"

"Don't plan on it." I answered with a smirk.

"Fine you want to know the truth, the _real_ reason I wanted the nano-brain?" She demanded moving to sit up so we could talk face to face.

"I honestly don't think I can _handle_ the truth." I admitted but she went on anyway.

"Because the Barron _killed_ my _brother_." She stated angrily and I promptly closed my mouth in shock. "But I didn't have the power to take him out the old fashion way so I had to _hit_ him where he _lived_ , take his little toys and mess with his army."

"Your _brother_?" Was all I could say as I took that in and she turned to look away from me as she went on.

"He died in the _attack_ , I'm sure my father told you about it."

I nodded in confirmation as I realized that this was a topic she _really_ didn't want to talk about and I guess I couldn't blame her so I decided to change it to something that suited _my_ needs.

"That's not the _only_ thing he told me." I added leveling a look at her seriously. "All this time you've been trying to _influence_ my decisions, _why_?"

"Why do you think?" She grumbled sourly as she looked away again. "It suited my needs and got me what I wanted."

"And what is it that you _wanted_?" I pushed sternly but she just continued to look at the wall without answering and I sighed as I realized this was getting me nowhere before quietly turning around so I could lie on the bed and get some much needed sleep.

"You _remind_ me of him." She suddenly added and I turned to look at her again. "I don't really remember him much, but he was smart and kind and a little playful." She continued in a whisper and I sat slightly as she curled over her legs a little more.

"Your brother?" I asked kindly and she nodded.

"In our clan females are dominant." She went on simply without looking up. "If a male _is_ born he's most likely taken to an all-male clan that once lived on the other side of the border. My brother was one of them." She admitted solemnly.

"The last time I saw him alive I was very small." She started again simply. "I never got the chance to look for him; the Barron used them all as a _shield_ during his attack."

I winced painfully as she said this and realized just how deep her wounds truly ran. "I'm sorry." I offered gently though it seemed rather hollow in comparison; however her only answer was to turn her back on me as he lay down again.

I waited several minute just in case she still wanted to talk, trying to let her know that she had someone who would listen, but she never turned around again and I didn't push it any farther.

…

I really hadn't noticed how tired I was until I found myself passed out on the first bed I'd seen in days. However even sleeping on a freaking cloud couldn't stop me from jumping straight to my feet when I woke up to find Zira mere inches from my face the next morning.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" I demanded noticing the sensation of a phantom _touch_ that had just left my cheek.

"I was curious." She proclaimed as if talking of the weather while she folded her legs to regard me with an air of boredom. Clearly she had gathered her strength again, decided that the mushy stuff was over and that it was time to torment me once more.

" _About_?" I growled sternly.

"What makes you so special that I _can't_ push you?" She asked sourly and I deflated as I realized what she'd just said.

"Wait – you _can't_?" I asked curiously. "You never said that." I added sourly.

' _Yeah; like she's never withheld information before._ ' A voice inside my head declared sarcastically and I couldn't help but agree with it.

"It would make sense if it was your _species_." She went on like I hadn't said anything. "I can't push the Triceratons either." She admitted turning to study a wall in thought. "But you're _different_." She went on absentmindedly.

"If that's the case you didn't have to use the Jedi mind treatment on me you could have just _asked_." I stated sternly as I jumped off the bed in order to stand on the floor like a normal person, causing her to look at me curiously while I took a calming breath before continuing.

"I was trained by a master _healer_ back home and I also have a rather _large_ collection of information storied up here." I started simply as I reached up to tap the side of my head before going on. "Such a combination of knowledge could save _millions_ but in the wrong hands it could also _destroy_ them." I admitted solemnly. "So my Sensei put up several mental _defensives_ to protect my mind – even from _me_."

I saw her eyes _widen_ as she took in my words but she didn't say anything. "You're lucky I woke up when I _did_." I continued sternly. "If you had actually managed to _break into_ my mind – you might not have _lived_ to _regret_ it."

"I'll remember that." She answered after a second of hesitation clearly a little shaken by this information but for the most part didn't show it. "So – you mean to say that even _you_ don't have access to your memories?"

"I can access my memories just fine thank you." I stated moving over to the middle of the room so I could stretch my right shoulder in an attempt to loosen up the ache that had set up camp there. "But only when I _need_ them." I added simply as she continued to watch me curiously before smiling.

"You know I never would have thought that we'd have so much in _common_." She stated with a little laugh and I raised an eye-ridge for further explanation. "When I was a kid I couldn't always – _control_ my abilities." She admitted solemnly.

"There were a few times that I accidentally made people do things they wouldn't normally do. I didn't realize it was me at the time but other people _did_ and they stayed clear. It can be hard to make friends when they're all _afraid_ of you."

"I can't really blame them." I concurred simply letting her know that I wasn't being mean just stating a fact "I've had people messing with my mind in the past and – well let's just say it's not something I ever want to _repeat_."

She laughed lighted at that and nodded in agreement. "Admittedly it's actually kind of – _refreshing,_ " She suddenly stated with a smile. "I don't have to hold back or worry that I might accidentally make you _jump off_ something."

I decided to take that little gem of information with a grain of salt and changed the subject.

"So what all is this – _mating_ ritual about?" I asked nervously and she turned to look at me out of the corner of her eye. "I only ask because on _my_ world the word – _mating_ can mean a – _few_ _things_."

" _Aw_!" She suddenly cooed turning to look at me completely as she smiled and I found myself immediately annoyed with her again. "You know you're actually kind of _cute_ when you're embarrassed."

"I'm not – that isn't –" I stuttered before looking at the ceiling to take a deep breath and walked away. "Never mind!"

"Relax Sparky." She continued regardless. "We wouldn't be _compatible_ anyway."

"What makes you say that?" I asked on autopilot. "NOT that I'm interested." I added quickly and she smiled again before continuing.

"My species are what you'd call – _virgin barers_ , it's why most of us are female 'cause males are more or less – not needed." She explained simply. "Though there are a few clans that still _capture_ them to breed with." She added absentmindedly and I couldn't help but become a little nervous as horror stories of the _Amazons_ came to mind.

"But don't worry the Algon don't do that." She responded with a smile but I just laughed unbelievingly and walked over to sit protectively in a corner. "Oh come on Sparky, I'm _kidding_." She announced playfully but I just continued to glare at her.

"Fine – _sulk_." She commanded waving me away like a bug before we were suddenly interrupted by a cough at the door and turned to find the male guard from before standing there.

"The ceremony is about to begin." He announced and I couldn't help but sigh loudly before getting up to _condemn_ myself.

…

"You know you could at least _attempt_ to act like this isn't the worst day of your life." She commanded as we made our way into the throne room once more.

"You're absolutely right; I struggle to contain my _enthusiasm_." I admitted sourly causing her to glare at me again. "You know most mutants don't accept human cultures, but I think I'm beginning to understand why they _wait_ to get married."

"Oh, will you relax?" She ordered sternly. "Once it's over my father will give us what we need, we'll get you home and then we'll go our separate ways."

"Yeah, if only my life was that simple." I commented under my breath, realizing that somewhere between last night and this morning we had switched mindsets on the matter.

But I didn't have any more time to consider that as we reached the table that had been set out before the throne where Algernon was waiting for us.

He promptly bowed respectfully and I bowed back while Zira just put her hand on her hip and studied her claws with boredom, causing her father to sigh loudly in response before nodding toward someone on the other end of the room and everyone but us left as the door closed behind them.

"Are you ready?" He asked quietly.

"No not really." I admitted and he smiled kindly before turning to receive his daughter's answer.

"Let's just get it over with." She commanded sourly and he nodded before laying out two sheets of paper before us.

"Write your names." He instructed as he set about preparing a fire in the cauldron set out on the middle of the table and I looked toward Zira for further explanation upon discovering that there was nothing to write _with_.

But she just casually picked up a long needle lying by her page and pricked her finger to use her own blood and I sighed again before reaching for mine as well and cautiously followed suite.

After we had written our names Algernon carefully reached out to fold each page over as he spoke several words. "A bond of _wood_ ," he stated obviously indicating the _paper_. "And of _blood_ ," he added as he folded each page over one more time before handing Zira's to me and mine to her. "To seal a _bond_ of _fire_." He finished indicating that we should place them in the cauldron and we did so.

A second later the fire erupted into a deep _blue_ color and I just about pulled away before he grabbed my wrist and held us there as the fire continued to flare up around our hands without causing harm.

"By the power of my _name_ ," Algernon continued after a minute. "I bind these two." He added as he began to move his hand around ours seemingly pulling the smoke after him to form the shape of an 8, which caused the color of the fire to change from blue to _gold_.

However apparently this was news to Zira for she quickly interrupted and suddenly started to complain.

"Father!" She said sternly' trying to pull away but he refused to let her go as he continued to repeat his last statement.

"What's wrong?" I asked but she ignored me as she tried to make him stop which was when I noticed that the tattoo on our wrists was _changing_ yet again, this time forming a completely different image as it too transformed in color.

"I _bind_ these two." Algernon continued to repeat and I suddenly realized that he _wasn't_ mating us.

"Father!" Zira screamed just before he opened his eyes again and suddenly forced both of our hands onto the surface of the table where he held us in place as he removed the pedant from his neck again and made to stab it into our wrists.

I winced half expecting the same kind of pain as before but instead the thing just stopped an inch from our skin where it started to glow as well.

"Take them to _Earth_." He suddenly yelled causing the thing to promptly comply and I was forced to close my eyes as we were teleported one last time to what I hoped would be my final destination.

However I didn't miss the voice of Algernon seemingly speaking from _within_ the stone as it pulled us through space and time.

" _Protect_ _her_!"

* * *

I've posted a few more pictures on my deviantart for anyone that's interested.


	11. Chapter 10

I Don't Own Ninja Turtles

* * *

Chapter 10:

( _3_ _rd_ _:_ )

"What are we doin' Leo?" Raph demanded as they jumped from roof to roof back toward the museum.

"If the Barron's going to bring Shredder into this then it just got real." The oldest turtle announced seriously as he landed on another building. "If we can stop them from sending anything about _us_ great, but we can't let him send any information about the _clan_."

"I get that." Raph told him sternly. "But _how_ are we gonna stop his transmissions? That's _Donnie's_ expertise."

"Leatherhead can help."

"From half way around the world?" Mikey added skeptically which obviously got their older brother thinking but he still didn't slow down as they arrived back on the roof of the museum and looked inside to find the whole place crawling with Gators.

"Leatherhead, we're here." Leo told his phone choosing to forgo answering his siblings for the moment until the current crisis was averted.

"Not yet." Leatherhead's voice countered. "You're still several meters away from the signal."

Leo looked down at his phone screen as he said this and Mikey peeked over his shoulder to get a look as well in order to further study the map the alligator had sent over which indeed informed them that they were in the wrong place.

"Over there." Mikey announced quietly and pointed to another building nearby after looking between the map and the area a few more times to get his bearings straight and a minute later they had left the army of Tron-impersonators behind to arrive on the indicated rooftop.

"There should be an antenna." Leatherhead started again. "If you destroy it that should stop the transmission but it'll also announce your whereabouts to the Barron."

"I don't like those options." Leo muttered more to himself than anyone else as he looked around for the spoken object. However upon finding it he decided to take the lesser of two evils. "Raph I just found something you can _hit_." He proclaimed seriously causing his brother to smile.

"Now you and me are on the same page." He declared before jumping over to the dish and ripped it straight out of the concrete to throw over the edge so it could shatter on the street below. "Aww I feel _so_ much better." He added dramatically.

"What about the Barron?" Mikey asked the phone next.

"I can lead you to him." Leatherhead told them and began walking them through the layout of the building in search of their enemy.

…

A few minutes later found the turtles sneaking between shadows as they maneuvered through the somewhat cramped quarters of what looked to be a radio broadcast station straight out of a poorly written sci-fi. With wires and cords hanging from everything and several dozen pipes lining the floors, it was obvious that the place was being used for _other_ purposes.

On top of that everything was somewhat flooded so they had to be careful not to step in any puddles or else risk being electrocuted by the live wires. But of course it only got creepier as they came upon an eerie blue light at the end of a tunnel framed by the loose and sparking cords.

"Someone's been watching way too many alien movies." Mikey whispered with a raised eye-ridge and his brother's nodded in agreement before carefully making their way around the corner to find a room beyond full of more pipes, cords and wires as well as computer screens hanging from every angle and a large pod-shaped something on the other side which was admitting the light they were seeing.

However what they didn't see was their _target_.

"Ah you're here." A voice suddenly called from somewhere and they all instinctively ducked back down into the shadows. It would seem the Leatherhead had been correct in assuming that destroying the antenna would announce their presence.

"I must admit I'm impressed, you four are truly impressive to have found me with so little knowledge." The voice continued causing Raph to suddenly perk up slightly as he recognized that it was the same voice of the man who had tricked him into collapsing the clock tower.

"Oh that's right." The man added with a laugh. "There's only _three_ of you now."

"Easy!" Leo ordered in a whisper as he reached out to grip Raph's shell to keep him from bolting out there to drag the cocky son-of-a-bitch from his hiding place and beat him to within an inch of his life.

"Your ability to control your subordinate is impressive." The man declared suddenly causing Leo to glare at the shadows in the room as his brothers became more and more uptight about the situation, but he kept his cool and kept them quiet.

As much as he may have wanted to refute that comment he knew the man was just trying to goad him into something and he wasn't about to give this creep that satisfaction.

"You know it's rude to ignore your host." He kept going calmly. "Perhaps I've lost your attention." He added as if considering what he could do to get it back which made the brothers even more nervous.

However before they could figure out what the shadow man had planed, the room suddenly started to feel like a _pressure_ was building in it and they quickly made to bolt if they had too.

But before they could make a move the area was abruptly illuminated by a flash of gold light and they were forced to look away before the brightness retreated just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving them to make out a shadow in the middle of the floor where it had originated.

However as they instinctively raised their weapons to attack or defend against the new presence they all heard a voice that made them stop breathing in shock.

…

( _Donnie's POV_ )

"That's getting old." I said sourly as I got back to my feet and rubbed my head in discomfort while I looked around to take in the new situation which admittedly didn't make me feel very good about the returning _home_ thing.

" _Now_ where are we?" I asked skeptically before Zira suddenly bolted to her feet at my side and started cursing and swearing up a storm that would have made a drunken sailor cringe.

"That son-of-a- _bitch_! He's _dead_!" She continued as I took a step to the side to avoid her rage which caused me to nudge something with my foot and I carefully stooped to pick it up, discovering that it was Algernon's stone.

"Zira." I stated calmly as I stood up again and hid the thing in my pocket so she wouldn't see it and/or try to _destroy_ it while she continued with her rampage.

"I don't _care_ if its _genocide_ , I'm gonna _kill him_." She screamed at the top of her lungs.

" _Zira_!" I said a little more forcefully causing her to round on me.

" _WHAT_!" She demanded sternly and I took a breath before answering.

"I think we have more _pressing_ concerns." I told her seriously before motioning toward the room where we had landed which we were clearly seeing through a wall of _glass_.

"What the hell?" She asked reaching out to touch it only for it to shock her. "Oh that's just _great_." She declared dramatically. " _Another_ _prison_ , now I'm _really_ gonna kill him." I nearly roiled my eyes at her theatrics but was interrupted in the motion when something demanded my attention.

"Donnie?" A small voice whispered and I froze for half a second before looking around to find _my brothers_ watching me in shock on the other side of the room and I couldn't help but smile as I started to breathe again, however that was when Mikey suddenly bolted toward me and I realized that he couldn't _see_ the glass.

"No!" I ordered quickly and he promptly halted an inch from hitting the electrified wall when Leo reached out to stop him in his tracks and I sighed in relief that he hadn't been hurt.

"Ah how nice of you to join us." A voice suddenly interrupted and I looked around in an attempt to locate it. "Donatello, I see you're still alive." He acknowledged.

"And kicking." I added skeptically while I continued to turn again trying to find the man, but he remained hidden.

"I must thank you for returning my property." The guy added as if I hadn't even spoken. "Now Zira if you would be so kind as to return the nano-brain to its rightful place."

"Go to hell!" She immediately answered, her anger suddenly rising so much that I quickly understood who was talking.

"So you're the Barron?" I asked the room at large.

Judging from my brother's position when I first arrived I'm sure Leo had wanted to keep a low profile but it looked like I had blown that plan wide open with my arrival, so I figured I should make up for it by asking some needed questions.

"You are very perceptive." The Barron acknowledged with an obvious smirk in his voice as I tired to use the sound to pin-point where in the room he was hiding. "I've also seen your work, I'm sure you could help my cause."

"No thanks." I stated sourly but he just continued like I didn't have a say in the matter.

"And Zira," He added sternly. "I'm still waiting for my nano-brain."

"You really think I'm gonna just _hand it over_ so you can _control_ _us_?" She stated snootily as she folded her arms in a huff. "Then you're even more of an _ignoramus_ than I first thought and trust me that's _saying_ something coming from _me_."

"Very well." The Barron responded and as if on Q the floor under our feet suddenly _disappeared_ , forcing me to quickly wedge my staff into the walls to stop my decent before reaching out to grab Zira's hand before she fell too far.

"I got ya." I told her quietly before another more _unnerving_ sound caught my attention and I looked around trying to locate it before zeroing in on a pod-like machine on the other side of our cell which was now turning from blue to _red_ as it unfolded into a taller more menacing form, which was never a good sign.

However as I got a better look at the thing my mind pointed out something about it that I _really_ would have rather not known.

"What is it?" Leo demanded sternly and I turned to look back at him as I answered.

"It's a _bomb_."

…

( _3_ _rd_ :)

"We gotta get him outta there!" Raph proclaimed in a hurry as he rushed the glass and threw his fist into the wall only to be thrown back by the force of the electricity, but Leo and Mikey were able to catch him before he hit the ground leaving them all to look up as the Barron spoke again.

"Your wills are far too strong to control when you're all _alive_ so I'm afraid some sacrifices must be made." He told them with an obvious sneer. "The Quantitative Aptitudinal will be a great asset, but to control him _you_ _three_ must be _destroyed_ , you understand." He added modestly.

"No we don't now let him out?" Raph demanded clearly not getting any of that but only received an answer in the form of a laugh like such an action would be pointless and stupid.

"If I did that then he'd be damaged in the explosion and dissecting a _dead_ brain is enormously unhelpful." The Barron stated as if teaching a class causing all of them to twitch a little in discomfort at the man's words.

Even Shedder wasn't that _soulless_.

"Hey Barron!" Zira suddenly declared causing everyone to look at her as she pulled herself up to stand on Donnie's staff and put something over her hand that looked like a set of spiked brass knuckles before waltzing up to the glass wall.

"You ever heard the expression –" She started again before the object on her hand began to glow faintly. " _Finders_ - _keepers_!" She screamed and promptly threw her fist into the wall.

It appeared that the electricity was more or less forced into submission as the glass itself started to emit a strange humming sound like it was being _vibrated_ from within and a second later it shattered under the attack, leaving Zira to gracefully catch herself as she zeroed in on the Barron's location and rushed off to find the son-of-a-bitch in order to administer some much deserved justice.

"Zira!" Donnie called after her only to suddenly stumble from the prison as his vision got blurry and his head began to pound in response to the strange sound the remaining glasswas still emitting from the assault.

"Donnie!" Raph proclaimed in a panic as he rushed to his brother's aid and pulled him from the danger zone before something _else_ could happen. Once safely out of harm's way and with his family again the formally missing turtle promptly found himself under attack from a blur of orange that tackled him to the ground in a fierce hug.

"Hey little brother." Donnie whispered as he hugged Mikey back, clearly finding it hard not to cry from the shear happiness of being back home at last.

"You okay?" Leo asked, reaching out to touch his shell looking for any physical contact to reassure himself that this wasn't a dream, but all Donnie could do was nod as his answer was stuck behind the joy in his throat. However the moment was cut short when Raph brought their attraction back to the present.

"Guys – I'm as happy as anyone that Donnie's back – but –" He started to say and everyone looked up at him as he quickly pointed them toward the _bomb_ in the corner which was still acting particularly _menacing_.

However as they all got up to take a look at it Donnie proceeded to scrunch his face up in such a way that immediately told his brother's that something was wrong.

"Come on Don ya've done this kind a thing before." Raph encouraged truthfully.

"I know." Donnie answered distractedly as he removed a few plates in an attempt to get a better understanding of the weapon. "But I _don't_ have a lot of experience with _alien_ technology." He added causing his brothers to look at him questionably.

"Alien?" Leo repeated but Donnie quickly waved the comment away to be answered at another time, preferably when they weren't about to become radioactive smears on the wall.

"Maybe we should just get out of here." Mikey suggested nervously but Donnie quickly rebutted that as well.

"There's not enough time and we'd never get far enough away. This thing's got enough juice to take out half the city." He answered quickly as he attempted to rewire a few things with the help of his gantlet, but the bomb had so many safety precautions that it would just close up whenever he got too close to getting to it's programs and he'd be forced to start over again.

"Damn it to hell!" Donnie swore when he inadvertently knocked off several precious seconds from the timer. "Where's Zira?" He quickly demanded knowing she'd have more knowledge of the thing than he did.

"Who?" Mikey asked in confusion before remembering. "You mean that girl who was with you? She went looking for the Barron I think."

"I need her _back_ here." Donnie ordered as he continued his multitasking. "Her people _created_ this thing; she may know how to turn it off."

"I'm on it." Raph announced as he jumped to his feet and rebounded up into the higher levels of the room to locate her.

It took him several minutes of crawling through more wire-infested hallways but he finally found a small side-room which was clearly the heart of the whole building where he pin-pointed the sound of someone swearing in a strange language and slowly looked around a corner to find the woman from before standing on the remnants of a computer monitor as she attempted to break into the control panel but was obviously not having any luck.

"Zira?" Raph asked crudely hoping he had pronounced the name right and she quickly turned to look at him. By the way she zeroed in on his _mask_ it was obvious that she had been expecting Donnie, but recovered quickly and adjusted to the new turtle before her.

"The Barron's not here?" She said sourly before turning back to the computer. "He was just _broadcasting_ his voice through the network; he's probably miles away enjoying his little _game_."

"Figures!" Raph complained before getting back on the topic he had come there to discuss. "Donnie needs yur help." He stated seriously causing her to look back at him curiously. "That bomb is still _active_ he said _you_ might know how ta shut it down."

"Did he now?" She asked sassily which made him narrow his eyes at the calm way she went about not caring that they were all about to die. "And why should I believe _you_ , you've obviously been _hacked_."

"What's that suppose ta mean?" Raph demanded.

"Seen any _strange_ things lately?" She continued as if he hadn't spoken. " _Enemies_ that don't look that they should _be_ there? Things that come out of _nowhere_?"

"How da ya _know_ about that?" He growled low in his throat causing her to scoff at him.

"Because _that's_ how the Barron get's into your head." She answered. "He makes you see what _isn't_ _there_."

"No!" He denied sternly but she didn't let up.

"Yes!" She insisted. "Normally he would have complete control over you by now but like he said you have a stronger _will_ than he anticipated. Something about you and your brother's gives you the power to fight him off, but that doesn't mean he can't make you _see_ an enemy where there's a _friend_."

"If that's true then why –" Raph started to ask but suddenly he didn't seem to have a case anymore, for now that he thought about it what she said was the truth, as everything about his enemies had made little sense lately and every time it had happened he'd been _separated_ from his brother's – just like he was _now_.

"See even _you_ can't deny it." She added simply before going on. "Donnie's never needed my help before why should I believe that he needs it _now_?"

"Because he _does_!" Raph insisted sternly as he took several threatening steps toward her, causing her to quickly draw her gun and level it at his head. "I don't _care_ if ya don't trust me, but my _family's_ in danger and _you're_ gonna help whether ya like it or not."

She seemed to seriously consider that as she continued to hold him at bay with the threat of death until finally she came to some kind of internal agreement and lowered her weapon. "You're lucky you're his _brother_." She proclaimed sternly before putting her gun away and strode past him to exit the room without looking back.

…

"What is this Sparky; you helped take out an entire Triceraton _fleet_ but can't handle a little bomb?" Zira asked as she and Raph arrived back in the main room again.

"Just shut up and help me!" Donnie countered quickly which caused his brother's too look at him in shock of the unexpected banter. It was like the two of them had been cussing each other out for _years_.

"You gotta be _kidding_." She swore as she jumped down to take a look for herself.

"What is it?" Leo demanded.

"It's a Neutrino Splinter – or the _old_ version anyway." She explained distractedly as she tried a few things on the bomb that obviously didn't work. "An effective little piece of shit, try to open it, chop it out or disarm it and you're on a one way ticket to the moon."

"Can you stop it?" Leo asked quickly as she pulled back when another of the sides closed up on her.

"This thing is older then _dirt_." She growled as she sat back on her haunches to get a better look at something. "There's a _reason_ they made a smaller version. This one always had a fumble trigger and a nasty habit of blowing up when it wasn't supposed to."

"But can you _stop_ it?" Leo demanded again sternly and she quickly turned to glare at him.

"That's what I've been trying to say, it's _incomplete_ there _isn't_ a way to stop it."

"Okay plan B then." Donnie stated as he gave up on rewiring the bomb to stand up again. "We get it far enough away that it can't hurt anyone."

"In _one_ _minute_? Why didn't _I_ think of that?" She countered sarcastically.

"What about your transporter?" Donnie insisted reaching out to take her hand so he could examine said object on her wrist, only to find that it was obviously out of power again.

"I _told_ you it can only make _one_ trip before it needs to recharge." She complained as she took her arm back, but he just ignored her as he looked around the room for a plan C before eventually zeroing in on the hole in the floor where the Barron had tried to drop the two of them earlier.

"Over there." He quickly ordered as he got up to look around for a way to _move_ the bomb.

"What's that gonna do?" Raph asked quietly, though he didn't waste a second before gently beginning to walk the dangerous contraption over to the area.

"The Barron said he wanted me _alive_ , there must be some kind of protective cell down below or he wouldn't have tried to drop us down there." Donnie explained as he guided his brother over to the hole. "If it was built to withstand the blast then it should be more than enough to _contain_ it."

"That's an awful lot of _speculation_ there Sparky." Zira announced truthfully.

"I know but it's all we've got." Donnie admitted as he looked down to make sure the bomb would fit in the tunnel. "Okay drop it."

Raph didn't need to be told twice as he had enough faith that his brother knew what he was talking about to let the thing go which prompted Donnie to quickly get them moving _away_ from the area.

"I thought you said it'd be _fine_?" Zira demanded sourly as they ran through the crowded hallways looking for the exit.

"I said it would _contain_ it." Donnie corrected sternly. "I _never_ said it wouldn't level the building."

…

A minute later

(Unknown location)

The Barron found himself smiling as the screen before him turned to static with the destruction of the adjacent signal. "They're certainly something." He stated mostly to himself before looking up as one of his generals walked over.

"Sir." The man said in a controlled tone of voice. "The London base has been _destroyed_." He announced and the Barron quietly waved him away before steepling his hands for a second as he smiled again and then got up to walk to the other side of the room where he activated another screen.

When the call was through he ordered the human on the other end to transfer him to his primary audience and soon the screen displayed the shadow of the person he wished to talk with.

"What is it?" The man demanded sternly.

"Shredder." The Barron acknowledged respectfully. "We have a new target and I get the feeling you've _already_ _met_."

The End

* * *

Well this part was kind of different; but I have to admit I enjoyed writing it. Zira is probably one of the most unique characters I've ever created.

So I guess it's time to watch for Part 6

"The Trials We Face"


End file.
